


no funny business

by wellitcouldbeworse3



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Blow Jobs, Boss Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, One Night Stands, Oral Sex, Porn With Plot, Sex, Sexual Tension, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:20:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29210277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wellitcouldbeworse3/pseuds/wellitcouldbeworse3
Summary: Although you'd hoped for it, you'd never expected to see your one night stand again.At least, until fate gives you a giant 'fuck you' and and he's your new boss.
Relationships: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Reader, Levi/Reader
Comments: 232
Kudos: 511





	1. hayloft

The first time you see him is at the club you frequent with your friends. He's sitting at the bar, holding a glass of something that looks like whiskey in his fingertips. Quite literally, 'in his fingertips'- he's holding the rim of the glass. 

He's ridiculously attractive, from what you can see: dark hair, styled in an undercut, sharp features. One of your friends notices you staring and pokes you. "He's hot," she says with a grin.

On cue, the rest of your friends follow your stare. One of them whistles. "You sure know how to pick 'em!"

"He's really good looking," you agree, sipping some of the fruity drink you'd ordered to start.

"Go say hi!" your friend urges. "You're hot, he'll like you."

Normally, you'd say yes. You'd suck up the courage and go sit down on the bar stool next to him, maybe say hi and try to start up a conversation, but he looks quite intimidating and you don't have nearly enough alcohol in you to try and keep your self esteem intact if he shot you down. 

"Not tonight," you say, turning back to your friends. You raise your glass. "Tonight's about you guys!"

They all cheer and tip their glasses in. Your eyes flicker to the mystery man only once more before you tip the rest of your drink down your throat and remind yourself that you're here with your friends, not for one night stands.

.

The first time Levi sees you is the same night, when you're on the dance floor with your friends. You're wearing a tight red top and flattering leather pants that make your ass look great, and he curses himself for staring too long.

You're just another pretty face, and there's plenty of those to go around. 

He pours the last of his whiskey down his throat, then allows himself one more glance at you and your friends. You're spinning in circles with one of your friends, laughing like you don't have a care in the world. You're decently attractive, sure, but probably just another airhead like the last woman he brought back to his apartment. 

Levi leaves that night, alone, brushing you off as just another face.

.

Your internship- a four month long paid opportunity in the office of a supply company- starts the next Monday, and you intend to make the best of your last 'free' weekend.

You go back to the same bar the next week on a whim. That maybe there's a prayer of a chance that you'll see that handsome stranger again. And this time, you wouldn't be with your friends: you'd be on the hunt to find someone to go home with. If not him, then maybe another attractive stranger.

To your delight, he's there. Even though he's got his back to you, you know it's him. Same hair, same posture, lifting a glass by holding the edge of it. He's wearing a dark grey shirt and black pants, and when he turns his head to look towards the dance floor, you see the same sharp jaw and thin lips that you had a hard time not staring at last time.

What had seemed like a good idea suddenly becomes more daunting. "Alcohol," you muse to yourself. Yes, definitely, if you were going to talk to him. You'd need all the liquid courage you could get.

You step towards the bar stools and take a seat two stools away from your mystery man. Close, but not direct. "What can I get ya, miss?" the bartender asks.

You order your favorite drink and then a shot of tequila. He brings them to you, and you take a sip from the larger glass before closing your fingers around the shot glass, ready to toss it into the back of your throat and get the taste over with.

"You drink that shit?"

Got him. You've got his attention. You glance sideways, and his eyes- steely grey- are fixed on you, and although it looks like he's glaring at you, his eyes seem curious.

For a second, you panic, because you'd never planned on getting this far, but you manage to recover. "Not really," you say, offering him a smirk. "Just indulging in a bit of liquid courage."

He raises an eyebrow.

In response, you tip the shot down your throat, trying to keep your expression neutral despite the strong taste. You look back at him. "Why? Yours any better?" you ask.

He shrugs, taking another sip. "It's fine."

So he's not a conversationalist. You take the other drink the bartender gave you and take a greedy sip, washing down the taste of the tequila. "So, do you glare at everyone who sits next to you?" you ask.

"No. Just the annoying ones."

Your lips twitch. "We met ten seconds ago and I'm already annoying?"

He shrugs again, but his shoulders have slumped a bit- he's relaxing. Good sign. "Less annoying than when you were with your loud ass friends last week," he says.

Several things go through your head at once: he saw you last week, he remembered you from last week, and he brought up the fact he noticed you. "Ah, well, there was a birthday," you say with a shrug. "And anyone's loud with a couple of shots in their system."

"Not everyone," he disagrees, tipping his empty glass at the bartender to indicate he wants a refill. "Just the annoying ones."

You snort. "If you wanted loud, you should've seen those frat boys last week."

"I did," he replies. "Wanted to kick the shit out of every single one of them."

"You would've done the world a favor," you agree.

The bartender returns with a refill for your new friend (if you could call him that) and sets another drink in front of you. Before you can protest, he smiles thinly and says, "it's from the gentlemen over there." He nods his head at someone on the far side of the bar, a brown-haired man with broad shoulders wearing a leather jacket. 

"Speaking of frat boys," you mutter under your breath. You raise your hand and smile weakly as a thank you, making no move to touch the drink. The man nods in return, then gets up from his seat, presumably to head over to you. "Shit."

The mystery man snorts. "You did this to yourself."

"Oh, shut up," you mutter under your breath before you can reprimand yourself for being rude. 

The man walks over. He's tall, and with his broad shoulders, he looks like he could be a football player. He smiles, but it's kind of creepy and you instantly straighten up. "Hey, doll," he says, and you hate him immediately.

To make matters worse, he takes the seat directly between you and the black-haired man you'd been attempting to talk to. You curse yourself for not sucking it up and sitting directly next to him. "Hi," you say thinly, still refusing to touch the drink he bought you.

"You're gorgeous," he says. "Couldn't keep my eyes off you from the second you came in," he adds, his gaze dropping from your eyes directly to your chest.

"Evidently," you say icily, pulling up your dress to cover more of your cleavage.

"C'mon. Want to get out of here?" He grins a bit too widely. "You look like you know how to have fun."

"No, thanks," you say politely. "You look like you're as much fun as watching paint dry." 

Mystery Man snorts and takes another drink. You're glad he finds this amusing, at least.

Apparently, the man beside you that you've now dubbed Asshole is either too dumb or too drunk to get the hint. Maybe both. "Aw, sweetheart," he slurs, draping an arm around your shoulders. "C'mon, I bought you a drink."

"Hey, dumbass," Mystery Man snaps, "she said she's not interested."

Well, at least you now know that he's got a sense of decency. God, the bar's on the floor, you think to yourself. You really need to reconsider your standards for men. 

"Screw off," the man says, his fingers pressing into your bare shoulder.

You reach up to his hand on your shoulder, almost as if to hold it. The asshole smiles, then yells when you grab two of his fingers and bend them backwards. It's enough to make him shoot back, tearing his arm away from you, and in his drunken stupor, he falls backwards off the stool.

"I said no," you say with a small smile.

"Bitch," the man snarls, pushing himself to his feet. "Fucking whore."

"Bye," you call as he stomps away, back to where he was before at the bar. You turn back to Mystery Man, who's watching you with raised eyebrows. "Where were we?" you say with a grin, taking the extra drink from the counter.

He's smirking. "You got a name, Red?" he asks.

Red? Ah. You're currently wearing a red dress and last week you'd been wearing a red shirt. "I do, but I kind of like Red," you admit, smiling slyly. "You?"

"Levi," he says.

You both stare at each other for a moment, drinks temporarily forgotten. The name fits him. He looks significantly less guarded than he did when you first came in. There's tension, that's for sure, and there's several different things you can say that might make that tension sexual. Is he interested?

His eyes drop, skimming your body, then rise up again to your face. You feel heat behind your cheeks. Then, the boldest you've ever been, you say, "your place or mine?"

There are hundreds of ways this could go wrong, but Levi says, "yours," and somehow the scenario picks the singular option to make this go right.

The wait for the taxi, the cab ride itself, and the elevator trip up to your floor all feel much too long. You're full of nervous energy, trying your best not to fidget with your dress or your clutch as the red numbers of the elevator keep floating by. Levi seems unbothered, calm and collected, and somehow that makes you even more nervous.

You nearly jump when the elevator dings for the eighth floor, and Levi follows you down the hallway until you're at your door. You fumble with your keys as you manage to get your door open.

"Huh," Levi muses as you step inside, closing the door behind him. "It's clean."

You'd just done a ceiling-to-floor clean the other day, and you're immediately grateful that you did. Levi is scanning your apartment, eyebrows raised in what seems to be pleasant surprise. "It's not much," you say, because it really isn't. There's a small kitchen area, a couch with a table and a television, and your bedroom and bathroom are just around the corner.

"It's fine," he says, turning back towards you.

There's an awkward pause. Do you move in, or do you wait for him to do something?

Levi cocks his head. "Well?"

You huff, lips twitching in a smile. "Fine."

You shrug off your clutch, lean in, and kiss him. Levi's hands slide around your waist, tugging your hips flush with his. You wrap one hand around the back of his neck and run your other hand up into his hair, and damn is it every bit as soft as you'd imagined.

Levi's hands drop to your ass, and he squeezes. His tongue slips into your mouth so naturally that it feels like it was meant to be there, that he fits perfectly. He kneads your ass in his hands, pulling you towards him, and you slowly walk him backwards. 

You bite his lip to hide your moan when his hands slide under your dress to grab your ass without the fabric in the way. Your dress bunches up to your hips, putting your thong on full display. "Mm," you moan into his mouth as Levi drags a finger down the crotch of your underwear.

"Soaked," Levi hisses into your mouth, smirking slightly. He does it again, lightly gliding his finger over your clothed clit, and your legs shake.

Not to be outdone, you slide your hands down and start undoing his belt buckle. Levi breaks your kiss just to latch his lips onto your neck, sucking at the skin above your collarbone. "Fucker," you curse under your breath as his teeth sink into your skin.

He chuckles, then bites down even harder. You have to bite your lip to contain your groan.

You finally get his belt off and drop it to the ground, unzipping his pants and tugging down his boxers. His cock springs out, curved and hard, and your brain temporarily short circuits. He's huge. You shake yourself out of your stupor and take him in your hand, and you feel him push his hips forward into your grip.

Without hesitation, you drop to your knees, and after a quick look up to make sure he's still on board, you take as much of him as you can into your mouth. "Fuck," Levi breathes.

You feel one of his hands slide into your hair. He doesn't pull or shove you around in any way; he just establishes a grip. You bob your head back and forth, hollowing your cheeks. Eventually you slide your head back, pulling off of him, and lick the underside of his shaft, pausing to circle your tongue around the tip.

"Jesus," you hear him mutter, and there's a light thunk as he tips his head back against the wall.

Encouraged, you take him back into your mouth, determined to give him the best head he's ever had- because somewhere deep in your gut, you know he's going to return the favor.

And boy, does he ever.

It's easily some of the best sex you've ever had. Levi seems to know exactly what buttons to push to set you off. After you finish sucking him off in your hallway, he fingerfucks you so well that you know you're never going to be able to be satisfied by your own fingers again. He hits sensitive points that you didn't know you had, working you to your climax so fast that it's physically painful.

Levi doesn't take breaks, either. You barely have time to come down from your high before he's pressing you down into the mattress, yanking your dress off your body and finally tearing your panties out of the way. You help him out of his shirt, telling him that you're on the pill and he doesn't need a condom, and when he finally enters you it feels like such a massive relief.

He fills you in a way that makes you feel like a virgin all over again, fucks you in a way that makes your legs shake, and hisses filthy things in your ear ("fuck, Red, just like that-") until you're both shaken and exhausted, unable to go any longer.

Levi collapses next to you on your bed, head tipped up to the ceiling. You both spend a few moments in silence, trying to mentally recover from the events of the last hour. You tip your head sideways at the clock: midnight.

"Can I use your shower?" Levi asks, like it wasn't just telling you to take it, Red, yeah, take it five minutes ago.

You nod blearily. "Across the hall."

He leaves, and you hear him shut the door to the bathroom. You gather up one of your sheets, wrapping it around yourself for at least a bit of modesty. Your sheets are filthy, all of them- you'll have to do laundry.

You hear the water turn on. You swing your legs off the bed and try to stand but collapse almost immediately; it feels like your legs are toothpicks. Message received, you lay back on your bed, shoving off the dirty sheets and stretching an arm out to your side table to grab a clean one. You wrap it around your body, promising yourself you'll take a shower after Levi gets out.

You don't mean to pass out, but you do anyway. When you wake up again, the clock reads 12:39. You stumble out of bed and take a quick survey of your apartment, only to come to a mildly disappointing conclusion.

Levi, and all of his belongings, are gone.

.

You spend your Sunday cleaning yourself up and prepping everything you need for the start of your internship tomorrow. You'd been lucky to land it; you know the application pool had been pretty big. If you were lucky, this could lead to a job at the company, which would be great considering you just graduated.

It's hard to get Levi off your mind. The sex was fantastic, for one thing, and he was gorgeous on top of that. Well, maybe you could hit the bar up again on Saturday after your first week. Maybe he'd be there again.

Monday rolls around, and it's hard to keep your nerves at bay. You put on a new pants suit that you bought and take the bus to the corporate building, fidgeting the whole way. You know it's going to be like secretary work at first, nothing serious, but it's still hard to keep yourself totally calm. 

When you enter the tall building, the secretary- her name tag says Rose- points you up to the fourth floor. You take the elevator, noting where the staircase is in case you need it.

You reach the fourth floor and push open the door. It's a large office space with some smaller offices inside, and a dozen desks making up the center of the room. There's a secretary's desk right in front of the door, and a petite blonde girl sits behind it, typing furiously at a computer. She notices you almost immediately. "Oh! You must be the new intern!"

Every head turns up from their desk, and it's hard not to squirm. "Y- Yes, that's me," you say, cursing yourself for stuttering.

She beams. "Nice to meet you! I'm Historia. We've got a desk set up for you. Erwin!" she calls.

Erwin Smith was the man who contacted you to inform you that you'd gotten the internship. He was in charge of the office. You straighten up as a tall blond man comes out of one of the offices. His grey suit is perfectly tailored and he's got bright blue eyes. "Ah, you must be the intern," he says, holding out a hand. "Erwin Smith. We spoke over email."

You shake his hand and force a smile. "Nice to officially meet you, sir."

"Wonderful. I'm sure you'll meet everyone in the office in good time." You glance out at the sea of desks, and several people wave to you. You wave back timidly. "You'll be working directly under my assistant manager, but I assure you, he's very qualified."

You nod. "Sounds good."

"He's hiding in his office," Historia pipes up.

Another woman at a desk near the front snorts. "Shortie hasn't got his tea yet, he's going to be in a foul mood," she says. "Like, worse than usual."

"Can it, Ymir," comes a voice from the far enclosed office space.

You pause. That voice sounds familiar...

Erwin chuckles. "Come on, Levi. If she's going to work for you, she'll need to meet you."

You stiffen. Did he just say- 

The assistant manager- your boss- steps out of the door, tea mug in his hand. "Honestly, two minutes and I would've had my tea," he snaps, eyes on the ground. "You couldn't have waited-"

His head snaps up and his eyes land on you.

"Oh, shit," Levi says aloud.

Oh, shit, you think.

This is going to be a long four months...


	2. burning pile

Fate is a funny thing. Sometimes you've hated it and cursed the universe for the hand it played you, and sometimes you've celebrated the luck that's come your way. 

This is one of those moments that feels like both.

Ymir whistles from her chair, propping her feet up onto her desk. "Thought you told me to watch my language, Captain. Practice what you preach."

Levi doesn't even snap back at Ymir. He stares at you, lips parted in surprise. There's so many different ways this can go, so many things you can say. You feel your cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

"Watch your language, Levi," Erwin chides, and that seems to break Levi out of his stupor.

He thrusts his tea mug at you. "Make me tea," he demands, and you fumble with the container. "We'll see how shitty you are."

And then he stomps back into his office and slams the door.

You blink uncomprehendingly at the slammed door, then down at the tea mug, then up at the door again. "He's always like that," someone says, and you turn to see a blond man smile softly at you. "Don't take it personally."

You offer him a weak smile in return. "Thanks."

"You'll be seated over there," Erwin says, pointing at a pod of three desks. There's another girl there, with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail, and a man with a shaved head and wide eyes. They both wave at you. "We'll let you settle in and have a meeting later with our HR rep to make sure everything's okay so far."

You nod to Erwin in thanks and head over to your desk, trying to smile at your new coworkers. "Welcome!" the man says brightly, and you read the name tag on his desk: Connie. "Nice to see some new blood!"

"She's only here for four months, idiot," a man from a faraway desk calls out.

The woman directly across from you smiles and holds out her hand. "I'm Sasha," she says happily. "Did you bring any snacks?"

You blink in surprise. "I packed a lunch?"

"Don't steal her lunch, Sasha, she just got here," the other man scolds again. He raises an eyebrow at you and waves; his desk is in a pod of three with the loud girl from earlier- Ymir?- and another boy with freckles and a kind smile. "I'm Jean," the man says, raising a hand in greeting. "This loud idiot is Ymir, and this is Marco."

"Everyone here is really nice," Marco says politely. "Don't stress too much."

"Let the poor girl settle in!" Ymir says, flicking a wad of paper at Jean. "You're gonna scare her off, Horse Face!"

He turns, glaring at Ymir. "Shut up, Ymir!" 

"Settle down, you two," Marco says with a worried smile. "You're both going to scare her."

He's kind in that sentiment, but right now, nothing is scarier than the office to the left of your desk, with the name Levi Ackerman, Assistant Manager printed on the door. 

You don't have much for your desk: a few pencils and pens, clips and staples, and a framed photo of you with your friends at graduation. You smile wistfully as you set it up, and then note the empty tea mug that Levi had thrust at you. Shit. "What kind of tea does he like?" you ask Sasha, gesturing with Levi's mug.

She shrugs. "Dunno. I think he's been going through a lot of green tea, though."

Green tea, then. "Thanks," you say. "Where's the kitchen?"

Sasha points to her left- your right. "I used to have Connie's desk," she confesses, taking a bite out of a sandwich- where did that come from? "Closest spot to the kitchen. I didn't even have to get up! I could just wheel myself over."

"They moved her because she got into everyone's lunches," Connie supplies, grinning. "At least this way, more people can stop her breakaways."

You smile, trying not to be overwhelmed by all of the new people and new information. You head into the lunch room, eyes scanning the vending machines and the small kitchen counter next to a fridge. You take the kettle and fill it, then set it on to boil. You skim through a giant box of teas, looking for green.

As you're waiting for the tea to boil, you start taking note of the office. There are four sets of three desks, making twelve people in total. Plus Erwin and Levi, that's fourteen. And Historia, the secretary- fifteen. There was another area behind your desk, separated by some sort of divider. There could be more people back there.

One thing that quickly becomes apparent is that the office is loud. There's always people on the phones or yelling at each other- it seems like Jean and Ymir bicker a lot- or people coming and going to different desks. You have no idea how you're going to figure out who everyone is.

If you don't count the split-off area, there's three separate offices: Erwin's, Levi's, and one that looks like a conference room. Levi's door is closed, but Erwin's has been left ajar, and if the noise bothers him, he doesn't say so.

The people seem nice. You've got a desk. You're going to get paid.

Only one hurdle seems to stand in your way: your boss is also the best one night stand of your life. 

The kettle is boiled much too fast, and you try to figure out if he likes sugar or milk or anything else. How the hell would you know? Sighing, you take several small packets or each and curl them in your hand. You make his tea with absolutely no idea whether you're doing this right, and head to his office door.

You're about to knock on his door when you realize most of the office is trying to watch you discretely. Sasha is pretending to stick her nose in a manual, but her eyes are trained on you. Connie is a bit more obvious; he's staring over the top of his computer. The other pod of three next to Sasha and Connie houses the blond man who'd said hi to you earlier, a brunet with wide eyes, and a dark-haired girl that looks like she could shoot lasers from her eyes. All three of them are watching you hesitantly.

"Is he that bad?" you whisper-shout to Sasha.

She nods through a mouthful of food.

You curse under your breath and knock on the door with the hand holding the sugar packets. "You'd better have my tea," comes a low voice from inside.

"Yes," you call back, biting your tongue. "I hope green's okay."

A pause. Then, "come in."

You enter with baited breath. Levi's hunched over at his desk, pen twirling innocently between his fingers. You set his tea down on the end of his desk (clean and minimalistic, only having a phone, pencil holder, computer, and keypad) and open your other hand. "I didn't know if you liked sugar or-"

"I don't," he interrupts. "If you made it right, I won't need it."

You purse your lips and nod as he grabs his tea mug- holding it by the rim, how odd- and brings it to his lips. His eyes are trained on his computer screen; he hasn't looked up since you came in. You're ready for him to tell you you're fired, or he's passing you off to someone else, or-

"This is shit," Levi says, setting his mug down on the table.

You blink in surprise, then wilt. "Oh."

"Don't let it steep as long next time. It takes away the sweetness." He finally meets your gaze and you do your best not to melt on the spot. He nods his chin at a stack of papers sitting on the corner shelf. "Those are client profiles. They need to be filed. I'll send you more instructions to your work email." Levi raises an eyebrow. "You have accessed your work email by now, yes?"

You pale. "No." Then you add, "sir."

His expression doesn't change. "Get on it then, intern."

Intern. You went from Red to Intern. Feels like a hell of a demotion. "Yes, sir," you mumble, stepping across his office to grab the stack of papers. 

You're halfway out the door when you pause and turn back to Levi. "Anything else?" you ask.

Levi turns back down to his work. "No." He looks back up, and something flickers in his eyes that you don't quite catch. "Looking forward to working with you," he says.

You get it. You're both just going to pretend nothing ever happened. Well, that works for you. "Looking forward to working with you too," you say back. You force a smile on your face. "Thank you, sir."

You close the door on your way out, then look up at the rest of the office. Everyone's staring at you, but as soon as you make eye contact, heads drop and people start chattering again.

You skitter back to your desk and set the stack of papers down. "Well?" Connie whispers. Both he and Sasha are leaning in. "What'd he say?"

"Just gave me stuff to file," you reply with a shrug.

"Did he yell at you?" Sasha asks eagerly.

Why does that excite her so much? You frown. "Well, he told me the tea was bad."

A knowing hum from Sasha and Connie. "That's okay, he always does," Connie says brightly. "Every intern leaves the office in tears at least once during their term!"

"Leave in tears?" you repeat, and several people nod. Is everyone eavesdropping? You sigh.

"I hope you hold up for a while!" someone pipes up from one of the other pods of three. It's the brunet with the blue-green eyes. "I've put a lot of money-"

The black-haired girl tugs his sleeve. "Eren! Don't spoil it!"

"You've got a bet going on," you say in disbelief, and way too many people nod at you in confirmation. Even the pod in the back, three people you haven't talked to yet (one blonde woman and two men) are listening in. "You haven't even met me," you say, then pause. "Anyone put money on me making it the whole term?"

No one speaks up.

"I've got two months," Eren offers unhelpfully.

You set your jaw. "Fine," you say, your lips switching in a smile. "I'll jump in. I bet I make it through the whole term."

Sasha's eyes widen. "Wow," she gasps, and Connie starts laughing. 

Ymir whistles. "I like this one!"

You stifle a smile. Maybe this term won't be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never expected so much love so soon. Thank you all so much <3


	3. problems

Levi shuts himself back into his office as fast as he can.

What the _hell_ are you doing here?

He props his elbows up on his desk and presses his fingers into his forehead, allowing himself a minute to collect his thoughts. He hadn't expected it to be you: he'd expected another timid man or woman who would flinch every time he spoke to them. Another person that would be easily offended and he'd be tossed in another pointless HR meeting.

But he knows you're not like that. He knows, because your confidence is what attracted him to you at the bar, what made him go home with you and let you suck him off-

Levi groans, palms flush against his forehead. The sex had been great, so great he almost considered asking for your number before he left. Now, he's just glad he didn't.

You're his fucking assistant.

"Well, isn't that fucking peachy," Levi says to his ceiling.

It's fine. It's easy enough to pretend it never happened- as long as you're content with doing the same. Yeah, that'd be fine. Just pretend it never happened.

He spreads his paperwork out across his desk, wondering what he can assign to you so that you'll have minimal contact. Maybe the profiling- it's tedious work and it should be a good introduction to the system. Yeah, he'll give you that.

Minutes pass and he's nearly forgotten about you when he hears a knock. "You'd better have my tea," he calls.

You say something back about how it's green tea, and he calls you in. When you walk in, he finally takes more than just your face, which had stopped him cold last time. You're wearing a decent suit, and a turtleneck, which he bets is to hide some of the dark marks he made sure to leave across your collarbone. Just the thought of it makes him stiffen up.

He tries the tea you made. It's actually not half bad.

"This is shit," Levi lies, glaring at you.

Your shoulders sink. "Oh."

"Don't steep it as long next time," he says, because you've got more promise than most of the past interns and if you can manage to make him decent tea, it'll be worth it to have hired you. "It takes away the sweetness." Levi remembers those profiles he thought of earlier and points them out to you, mentioning your work email. He notes how you stiffen up. "You have accessed your work email by now, yes?"

To your credit, your eyes don't stray. You say, "no, sir."

 _Sir._ He wants to laugh.

Fine then. He'll play your game. "Get on it then, intern," Levi says.

He sees the sudden pause, the rise of your shoulders, and he hides his triumphant smirk. He's ruffled you. You take the stack of papers and head to the door, then turn back before you make it out of his office. "Anything else?" you ask.

Damn. It would've been easier to ignore you if you could've started out as a shit employee. Instead, you're respectful, polite, and can make a decent cup of tea. "No," he says flatly, but before Levi can stop himself, he adds, "looking forward to working with you."

You repeat the sentiment back to him, a smile on your face. You move to close the door behind you and Levi finds himself staring at your ass until the door blocks it from view.

The door clicks shut. Levi smacks himself in the head with his binder.

.

Getting settled in isn't too bad.

Historia helps you set up your work email without even needing to be asked- you swear she's an angel in disguise- and you click through some of the ones from this morning. Eventually, you start sifting through profiles, trying to get a sense of what you're supposed to be doing.

You soon learn that the lunch break is chaotic. Apparently Sasha has a tendency to steal everyone's food, so people have lunch boxes and packaging with locks on them. 

You hand her one of your cookies that you're not going to eat and the woman latches onto your side with a grateful sob. "You're my favorite intern!" she says, inhaling the cookie in the blink of an eye.

"I've only been here a few hours," you say with a weak smile.

"Well, we had one intern break her computer by lunch, so you're doing pretty well," the blond man from another desk says with a smile.

You spend most of your lunch break observing and learning names. You watch how they interact with each other, how friendly all of them are. You learn the blond man's name- Armin- and the two people he sits with are Eren, the bloke who yelled about the bet earlier, and the black-haired girl whose name is Mikasa. She's quiet, but she seems to be on friendly terms with everyone.

The accounting group at the back seem to be tightly knit. There's a tall blond man named Reiner, who occasionally looks like he's staring off into space. Bertolt is the other man with him, and he's much friendlier; he comes up to introduce himself to you at lunch. The other woman is also very quiet and you're not sure if she's glaring at you or just has a resting bitch face. You're pretty sure her name is Anne... no, Annie. 

After lunch, Erwin calls you into the conference room. He's seated there with someone else, a person with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. "I'm Hange!" they say as soon as you walk in. "Your HR rep!"

"Nice to meet you," you say, extending your hand.

They shake, grinning. "Sorry I couldn't meet you this morning, I had a few other things to take care of."

"Shall we get started?" Erwin asks pleasantly, gesturing for you to take a seat. "Just going over your contract and company policies."

You smile and sit. Hange goes over the basics of what you already know: today's your starting date, you end in December, just before Christmas. Four months. What time you're expected to be in, the possibility of overtime, biweekly payment, logging your hours, etcetera. You try your best to keep smiling and nodding.

Eventually, Hange turns to your personal record: your resume and school transcript. "Congrats on graduating," they say. "Not everyone does!"

"You'll be seeking a full time position after this, I assume?" Erwin asks.

You nod. "Yes, sir. This is just an opportunity to test out the field and see if this is what I'm looking for."

"Smart decision."

"You took chemistry courses," Hange notes as they skim through your transcript. "A few of them! Even though they weren't needed for your degree. Did you like it?"

You shrug. "I suppose. I was trying to keep my options open for minors. It was difficult but it was interesting."

"You think it's interesting?" the HR rep repeats, grinning. You feel like you've said the wrong thing. "Would you ever want to-"

"No, she doesn't."

The three of you turn to see Levi leaning in through the open door. "Levi," Hange says with a roll of their eyes, "I-"

"Was trying to kill my intern before she's even started," he snaps back. He shoots a look at Erwin, who only looks amused. Maybe this happens a lot. "Keep Four Eyes away."

"They're HR, Levi, you know I can only do so much," Erwin chides with a small smile.

"Well, this one might actually not be a total failure," Levi mutters. "So I'd appreciate it if she didn't get scared off."

You try to register his words. _Might not be a total failure._ ...that's a good thing, right? 

"High praise, coming from the short king himself!" Hange hoots.

Something flies through the air and strikes Hange in the forehead with terrifying accuracy. It's a pen. You twist back to the door to see Levi's arm extended in a throw. _Oh, holy shit._ "Levi," Erwin says patiently, "what have I said about abusing your colleagues?"

"Hange harasses me plenty more," he argues, "so we're even."

"Ow!" the victim in question whines, rubbing their forehead. "Pens hurt, Levi!"

"Next time it'll be a stapler," Levi promises as he leaves.

You glance from the open door to Hange, who's rubbing their head, then back to the door, then back to Erwin. "Does this happen a lot?" you say tentatively.

He nods. "I'm afraid so."

 _And no one's been fired yet?_ You nod along, then force a smile. "Is it worth investing in a helmet?" you say, glancing at Hange. 

They grin. "Maybe. He'd find a way around it though."

"And, uh, does that treatment exist mostly for you, or interns as well?"

"Depends how much he likes you," Erwin supplies.

You nod slowly, taking in the red spot on Hange's forehead that they're trying to rub away and Levi's pen sitting on the desk. "Is it worth returning this to him," you ask, grabbing the pen, "or will it just be thrown again?"

"Most likely be thrown," Erwin says.

You pause, dropping the pen back on the table. "I'll leave this to you, then."

Hange laughs. "I think you'll fit in just great here."

You glance back at the empty door, hoping that they're right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've aware Hange's pronouns are open for interpretation, so I've decided to leave them as non-binary. I think it's nice representation. 
> 
> Going to update every Tuesday. This one's short, sorry; next one will be twice as long.


	4. empty hands

Your first week seems to fly by.

The longest part of your day is actually the bus ride home. The chilly September air makes waiting for the bus painful, and you're always ready to curl up in bed and put on a show by 5 pm that the seven minute bus ride feels excruciatingly long.

Levi seems to want to avoid contact if at all possible. There's always a stack of papers on your desk every morning. At least it's manageable: you go from sorting and filing profiles to making minor edits based on several other manuals and documents that he's making you read. 

You keep bringing him tea, but it's the same response every time. Not sweet enough, too sweet, or your personal favorite, "did you shove this shit in the fridge? It's ice cold."

On one of your lunch breaks, you sketch up the office in an attempt to figure out where everyone is and learn everyone's names. You'd ventured behind the divider once to find Hange's desk and another empty one. Apparently it belongs to Mike, the warehouse manager, but he's rarely up in the office. He spends most of his time in the warehouse. When you finish your sketch with everyone's names, you tuck it in your drawer, referring to it occasionally when glancing around the office.

About an hour before you wrap up on Friday, Hange bounds by your desk. "Hey! Greenie!" they say brightly. "Doing anything tonight?"

You wrinkle your nose. "Greenie?"

"It's what we call the newbies."

"It's what _you_ call the newbies," Jean interjects. "It hasn't caught on."

Hange points an accusing finger at Connie, who shrinks into his desk. "I heard Connie using it the other day!"

"Sue me, it's catchy," he mutters in defense.

You think about how Levi called you Red during your night together and feel your cheeks warm. "I don't mind," you say. "Sorry, Hange, what were you saying?"

"Drinks! We thought it wouldn't hurt for you to get to know us a little more, and vice versa," Hange says, leaning back against your desk. "We'd be heading out after work."

You have to bite your tongue to prevent yourself from asking if Levi is going. He's your boss, you really need to stop fantasizing about it. "That sounds like fun," you agree, enjoying how Hange's eyes light up behind their glasses. "Thanks. Who else is going?"

"I am," Sasha says, leaning towards you. "We'd better be going to Scouts. They make the best hamburgers."

"We're going to Scouts," Connie agrees, sharing a high-five with Sasha. "Because I dared Jean to go for a hot wing eating contest with me."

"You're going down, Connie," you hear Jean call from his desk.

"Jean, the last time you ate hot wings, you spent half an hour in the bathroom," Armin points out, joining the conversation.

You watch Jean scowl. "I have poor digestion!"

"Tell that to the two bites you took out of one wing," Eren mocks.

"What, like you're any better, you suicidal bastard," he challenges. "At least I didn't vomit up everything in my stomach after!"

"Didn't you, though?" Marco muses.

"Eren, don't even think about it," Mikasa mutters when Eren opens his mouth to object.

"Besides, everyone knows that Bertolt's the only one who can make it through a whole thing of those hot wings," Ymir remarks, cocking her head at what everyone calls the 'Accountant's Corner'. "Ain't that right, Bert?"

Bertolt shrugs sheepishly. "I like them."

Reiner grins. "You'll eat anything on your plate."

"Yeah, didn't you almost accidentally eat a napkin last time?" Connie calls, grinning.

"I can make it through a full plate!" Sasha objects.

Historia chimes in from her desk. "You looked like you were going to breathe fire last time!"

"You're all idiots," Annie mutters.

"Everyone's got a thing for the hot wings at Scouts," Hange says, dragging your attention back to them. "I think Mike is sitting this one out, but Erwin should be going. Levi doesn't normally go to these, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

"Yes it does," Eren says, rubbing his forehead as if nursing a past injury.

"I'll ask," Hange declares, and the way everyone immediately stiffens would almost be entertaining if you weren't equally nervous for the outcome. They walk over to Levi's office and knock twice. "Hey! Grumpy!"

"Go away, Shitty Glasses," Levi calls back.

They pointedly ignore him. "We're going to go out for drinks after work to welcome the newbie," Hange says. "You in?"

There's a silence, then footsteps. The door swings open, and Levi's eyes skip from Hange to you. "You're not going anywhere if you don't have those numbers for me," he says, his eyes narrowed.

You turn back to your computer and press send on the email you'd been drafting. "Done," you reply.

Another heartbeat of silence. Levi raises an eyebrow at you. You can't tell if he's annoyed or amused. "Fine," he says, "I'll go. But someone's buying my food."

"Yes, Captain!" Hange says, patting him on the back. 

Levi swats their hand off with a scowl, then turns back to you. "Don't get a big head," he warns. "I still need records of all those reports you went through."

You try to hide your smirk. "Alphabetized or by date?" you ask innocently.

"Take a guess," he suggests.

"Physical copies as well?"

"Obviously."

"I'll have it in an hour," you say confidently.

Is it just your imagination, or is he smirking? "Forty five minutes," Levi says, "and I'm timing you."

His door shuts again, and Hange whoops in delight. "Levi never comes out," Sasha says excitedly. "We're half convinced he's a robot and needs to go home to recharge."

"Well, now we know the trick to it," Ymir says, smirking at you. "We just need Greenie here to flirt with him and he'll go."

"I knew that nickname would catch on," Hange says triumphantly.

You scowl, hoping you're not blushing. "That's pretty sad, if that's what constitutes as flirting for you."

"For Levi, it is," they say, ruffling your hair. "All worked out though!"

"But I wasn't-"

Hange presses a finger your lips, shushing you. "We don't question it," they whisper. "We just enjoy it."

"Four Eyes, leave my intern alone," Levi calls from his office.

 _My intern._ Your heart flutters and you scowl to yourself. You can't be crushing on your boss. Hange bids you goodbye, skipping back to their desk, and you turn back to your computer, sighing to yourself. You have some reports to gather.

.

"You call him Captain because... he hates it?"

"Exactly," Sasha, Connie, and Jean say in unison. 

"He apparently captained a varsity team in university," Marco supplies helpfully. "Hange started calling him Captain, and, well... it stuck."

You nod, taking a sip of your drink. "And the nickname Greenie?"

"Hange," Eren and Armin say at the same time.

You nod like that explains everything, which in a way, it does.

As soon as five o'clock hit, everyone was out of the office. Hange had offered you a ride, so you'd taken it, and you'd all gone directly to the pub. Scouts was huge, with several bars and dining tables, and already had an area set up for your large group. Everyone except Levi and Erwin came directly from work: Erwin said he had an important call and he'd be there soon, and Levi said he had to get changed first.

So the remaining fourteen of you are crowded at a cluster of tables, already a drink or two in with buckets of wings on the way. The staff seems to keep eyeing your group warily, and you're wondering if they've got a reputation. Judging from the rowdiness, it's highly likely.

"C'mon, Greenie, you should drink!" Hange says encouragingly, looping an arm around your shoulders. "What is that, a Sprite?"

You're not overly inclined to be drunk in front of your coworkers after your first week. "It's alright, I don't need anything," you say.

"Yes, you do," Hange disagrees. "Waiter!"

"Hange, stop trying to get the interns drunk!" Armin says, hand clutched tight around his own glass. "Remember what happened to the last one?"

"What happened to the last one?" you ask Mikasa, who's sitting on your left.

She pinches her lips together. "You don't want to know."

"He vomited all over the table," Eren supplies helpfully. "When we came back to work on Monday, his desk was cleared out. He quit."

"Nah, I think Greenie can handle her liquor," Ymir calls from the far side of the table. Her arm is looped lazily around Historia. "Right?"

"She seems like she can," Historia agrees, smiling.

You don't get a chance to reply, because Erwin arrives and the table erupts in cheers. Eventually, you cave, and you order one of your favorite drinks from the waiter. No harm in indulging a bit, as long as you keep an eye on yourself.

The alcohol, admittedly, makes you a little more talkative, and soon you've opened up a bit to your coworkers. Where you went to school, family and what they do- just small things. You hadn't really expected anyone to be interested. You would've been content to duck your head and do some solid work for four months, but your coworkers are making a genuine attempt to get to know you, so you do the same in return.

You learn that Eren, Mikasa, and Armin all grew up together, managed to go to the same schools, and even all got jobs in the same company when it was starting up. Jean tells you that he and Marco met in university and have been friends ever since. Sasha tells you about how she got this job by accident; Hange mixed up the phone numbers in the files. 

Levi shows up after an hour and is met with a collection of boos. "You sure took your time, Captain!" Eren says. 

"Had to deep clean the office for the third time this week?" Jean asks.

"Shut it or you'll be doing the cleaning," Levi warns, and he takes a seat near Hange. Your eyes linger on him for a bit too long: forest green collared shirt, two buttons undone, light brow slacks and black shoes. His hair looks ridiculously soft- you want to run your hands through it. The thought of running your hands through his hair reminds you of last Saturday, when you had your hands laced through that soft black hair as he pounded into you-

You shake yourself out of the vision and knock back the rest of your drink, hoping anyone watching you will excuse your red cheeks as drunkenness. "That a girl!" Hange says.

"You drank that fast," Eren notes from beside Mikasa.

You shoot him a smile. "Isn't that your fourth?"

"It is not," the brunet argues, taking a sip of his beer.

Reiner, who's seated on your right, nudges you with his elbow. "It's his fifth," he says, grinning.

"Reiner, you traitor," Eren says with a scowl. "Like you're one to talk! Isn't that your fifth?"

"Third," he corrects, taking a slow sip.

Bertolt nods. "It's his third. Sorry, Eren."

Eren glares, pointing an accusing finger at the both of them. "Traitors, the both of you. Stop counting my drinks!"

"Is Yeager already drunk?" Levi says dully, lacing his fingers on the table. "That's pathetic."

"He is not," Mikasa defends.

"This wouldn't be the first time," Erwin muses, bringing his own glass to his lips. "Remember that trip to Shiganshina?"

There's a collective shudder around the table, and you're both parts intrigued and nervous. "I'm not even going to ask," you say, shaking your head.

"An intern who minds her own business?" Ymir fakes a gasp. "Will wonders never cease?"

You laugh. "Well, give Eren another beer, and I'm sure he'll tell me."

"Wait! Greenie!" Hange grabs Levi's sleeve, and even though he brushes them off almost immediately, somehow they manage to seize him again. "Guess what the Captain's drink of choice is!"

"Don't make her try and guess," Levi protests.

Erwin leans forward. "No, I'm quite interested in this too."

Everyone stares at you, and you pretend to think. You already know, of course. Or, at least, you've got a rough idea. Levi finally meets your eyes, and you can't tell what he's thinking. 

"Whiskey," you decide, unable to stop your smirk. The alcohol takes over and you just keep talking. "But he doesn't really like drinking, it just gives him something to keep in his hands. He does that thing where he swirls it aimlessly."

There's a pause. Levi's eyes widen slightly.

Then, Erwin chuckles. "She's good."

You take another sip of your drink, grinning. "So I got it?"

"Not really," Levi says with a scoff.

The waiter picks that moment to bring in a glass, set it on the table, and pour Levi a shot of whiskey, oblivious to the tension. The table erupts in laughter, but Levi just looks even more annoyed. He shoots you a death glare, then takes his glass and tips it back, tossing the contents down his throat without batting an eye. He slams the glass back on the table and glares at the waiter. "Another."

"Oh, he's pissed!" Jean says gleefully.

Everyone's attention is diverted when the hot wings arrive, and from there, it's every person for themselves. A few people- Eren, Jean, Connie- scoop piles onto their plate but only make it through a dismal amount before they're gulping down water. You're pretty sure water doesn't help with the heat all that much (aren't milk or yogurt supposed to be better?) but it's too loud to even think about voicing your opinion.

Sasha hoovers down so many wings in the blink of an eye that you're wondering if all of her taste buds have been destroyed from the spice. Bertolt also seems to enjoy them, but Reiner keeps tugging at his collar and fanning his face. Annie, who hasn't said a word all evening, eats them like they're nothing different from mild wings. Same with Mikasa. Neither of them appear phased by the heat.

Hange sporadically screams, "hot! Hot!" and Levi smacks and berates them, saying they should've known what they were getting into. Erwin watches with an amused smile on his face, but he doesn't touch the wings.

You laugh, you talk, and you drink, and you have more fun than you bargained for. You remain at a healthy buzz all evening: not enough to put you at an awful stage of drunk, but enough to make sure you'll enjoy yourself and still feel it in the morning.

Eventually, you excuse yourself to the bathroom, looking for a moment's relief amidst all of the chaos and chatter. On your way back, you find yourself stopped by the bar, watching the television. There's a basketball game on.

You've never really been an avid viewer of basketball, but you find yourself leaning against the counter and watching the game anyways. Maybe it's the alcohol.

One of the players has just sunk an excellent shot when you hear, "didn't take you for a basketball fan."

You tip your head sideways. Levi. "Not really," you drawl, turning back to the television. "But they look cool."

"You're drunk," he points out, leaning into the bar next to you, and you shake your head.

"Nah. Just tipsy." You feel his eyes drill into your head, then he too looks up to the basketball game. "You like basketball?" you ask, uncomfortable with the silence.

"No."

"Figures."

Levi turns his head. "Why's that?"

The words slip out before you can stop them. "Well, 'cause you're short," you say without thinking, turning to look at him.

His eyes flash, temporarily murderous, but it doesn't faze you. You raise an eyebrow at him. Levi quips, "yeah, you're drunk."

"Nope," you reply, popping the 'p', "just feeling good."

"You're an idiot." You hum in assent, feeling too nice to argue with him, and turn your eyes back to the screen. Several figures in red uniforms are passing the ball between the defense, and you're having trouble following all of the movements.

Levi says something and you miss it entirely. You spin back to him. "Come again?" you ask.

He raises an eyebrow. "I said, what the hell are you playing at?"

"Playing at?" you repeat, frowning. "I'm not playing at anything."

"Don't give me that shit, Red."

The nickname causes something to bubble in the pit of your stomach. "Don't- what-" you try to stammer out an excuse of some kind, but your head is starting to swim. "Look," you start, "I'm sorry, I'd assumed you... that you'd..."

"That I'd what?" Levi says, his voice lowering.

Do you bring it up? The rational side of your brain says no, that it's safer to keep tiptoeing around the subject and avoid talking about. But a part of you wants an answer: does he regret it? Does he care about what happened last weekend? You'd originally assumed he wanted to forget it, but he just called you Red. Why would he call you that if he wanted to forget it?

Rationality be damned. You straighten up and frown at him. "I'd assumed you'd want to ignore what happened last weekend," you say lowly. It's too hard to look at him; you turn your eyes back to the game. "I mean, I had no idea- no idea that you were my boss. And we never traded names, so I assume you didn't know me, but..."

You're well aware you're rambling, but it's hard to stop the words once they're free-flowing. "We can just pretend it never happened," you say, squeezing your eyes shut. "If that's easiest. Whatever works for you. Boss. Sir."

When you open your eyes and look back to Levi, nothing has changed about his usual neutral expression. Annoying prick. 

Eventually, he says, "you're drunk and you're rambling."

You snort. "Not my fault you called me Red and brought it up."

Levi stiffens. Barely noticeable, but you still catch it. You lock eyes with him in some sort of stare down, wondering how this is going to work out. Several possibilities are running through your brain: being fired, being transferred to someone else, a verbal smackdown. Hell, if he threw something at you and shoved you, you wouldn't be surprised.

Instead, his eyes drop down to your lips.

They fly back up to your eyes so fast that you're not sure whether you imagined it or not. Your lips part in surprise, but Levi's steely neutral gaze doesn't waver.

"Oi! There you two are!"

An arm loops around your shoulders, and you have to push your hands against the bar to prevent yourself from going face first into the counter. Hange tries to loop another arm around Levi, but he's quick to evade. "Hey, Hange," you greet, still sort of reeling from your conversation with Levi- your boss. You really need to get yourself under control. 

"Ah, you're a basketball fan!" Hange says, eyes fixed on the screen above your head. "C'mon, let's go back to the table, Jean looks like someone blew something up in his mouth." They tug your shoulder, grinning. "We can probably find a screen to watch the game on there. You a big basketball nerd?" They wiggle their eyebrows. "Or you just got a thing for tall guys?"

You shrug, and you're not sure where it comes from, but you say, "I like 'em short."

Hange laughs and tugs your arm, and you follow them back to the table. You resist as best as you can, but eventually you cave and turn back to look at Levi. He's leaning one elbow on the bar, and his eyes are drilling holes into the back of your head.

You throw a smirk at him- _wildly inappropriate, what the hell are you doing-_ then turn back to follow Hange back to the table.

You're going to hate yourself for it in the morning, but you can't help but grin as you remember the smoldering look in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanted an [office layout](https://imgur.com/a/EcTKv5a), I sketched one out quickly. I hope it helps you visualize!
> 
> Had to remind myself halfway through that I'm writing this for the Levi x Reader, not for the general office fluff. Oops. Hope you enjoyed regardless, and don't worry! Things heat up soon ;)


	5. bit by bit

You've never hated yourself more than you do the next morning.

You vaguely recall Mikasa piling you, Eren, and Armin into her car (she, alongside Levi, Erwin, and Annie were some of the only ones who had remained mostly sober) and taking you home. You'd been coherent enough to strip yourself out of your work clothing, take a shower, and collapse in bed.

Now, it's just before noon the day after and you keep replaying your conversation with Levi in your head.

_You like them short?!_

What the hell were you thinking? 

You spend all day cursing yourself in your head, trying to remember how much you rambled and if you made a total fool of yourself. No, you're pretty sure you had a decent handle on your behavior, but still.

On Sunday, you go grocery shopping. There's a local store a two minute walk from your apartment which is both a blessing and a curse: close enough to make it walking distance, but too close that it makes your late-night cravings easy to satisfy. You head through the aisles, trying to avoid bumping into other people, and grab what you can find on sale. 

On a whim, you buy a pack of cookies. These are the type that Sasha claims to love, right?

When Monday rolls around, you spend the entire bus ride fidgeting nervously. You should _not_ be this concerned about it. It's Levi. You doubt a little comment like that bothered him. 

Either way, when you head into his office that morning with a mug of green tea in your hands, you can't help but start with, "I apologize for my behavior on Friday."

Levi says nothing, instead raising an eyebrow at you and taking his tea mug. 

He's wearing a black collared shirt which suits him and he looks _way_ too hot for you to be doing this right now. "It was inappropriate," you say quickly, avoiding eye contact, "and I was intoxicated."

He takes a sip. "Is that all?"

You swallow, then nod. "Yes. Sir."

Levi sets his tea mug down and hands you two files. "Those need to be updated based on what we have in the computer system," he tells you, eyes on his own computer screen. "And would it kill you to try a bit of variety?" Levi adds, holding up his mug. "If you make me green tea one more time I'm going to throw it at you."

You have no doubts that he would follow through on his threat. "I'll be sure to mix it up," you say, your shoulders relaxing. He doesn't care about what happened on Friday. Good. "Anything else?"

"No. Get Mikasa to show you the section in the archives on those folders."

"Yes, sir."

You shut the door behind you and exhale in relief, pressing your forehead into your free hand. He doesn't care. And you shouldn't either, for that matter. You can put the matter behind you and just finish your four months with your head down. No big deal.

You look up and realize everyone is staring at you. "What?" you ask in surprise.

Ymir, whose desk is closest, leans over to you and frowns. "Nope. No tears."

There's a loud groan from Jean, who slumps against his desk, and Connie starts cackling at Sasha, who's sinking lower and lower into her desk. _Ah, their bet,_ you realize. "Sorry to disappoint," you say sarcastically, sliding into your seat.

"No disappointment here," Ymir says brightly, grinning at the miserable look on Jean's face. "I'm still in."

"Sorry," Sasha confesses, rubbing the back of her head. "I thought you'd be out by last week."

"And to think I was going to give you cookies," you murmur.

There's the sound of a chair rolling across the floor, and Sasha stands up so fast that she nearly throws her computer monitor into you. "You _what?!"_ she screeches, causing Connie to clap his hands over his ears. "I'm so sorry! I'll never bet against you again! I-"

"Sasha," Erwin says from Historia's desk- holy crap, did he hear all that? "What did we say about groveling?"

Sasha mumbles something under her breath and sits back down. Erwin smiles and turns back to Historia. You smirk to yourself and reach into your bag, pulling out a cookie for Sasha. She beams gratefully and takes it from you, her eyes bright.

You can't believe this is only day six; it feels like you've been here for years.

.

On day thirteen, a warm September Wednesday, your computer crashes.

You're not sure where it comes from or what you did to cause it, but either way, it happens. You stare at your computer in shock as it goes black. Then, a small circular icon comes up, spinning lazily in a circle with a small note under it that reads _restarting._

Your jaw slips open, and "oh, shit," escapes your lips.

You'd just been working on a huge case file for one of Levi's next clients, someone he was going to pitch a big sale too. You'd been working on it for most of yesterday and all of this morning, and it's gone. 

"No, no, no," you whisper under your breath. You'd saved it, right? It'll be around here somewhere. Right?

You glance up. Sasha and Connie are both absent and have been since ten this morning; they're out in meetings with clients. You turn back to your computer. It's started up, and you enter your login information and click quickly for the folder you thought the document might be in. Not there.

Shit. Levi's meeting is today, this afternoon, and you just lost the file you were supposed to give him. 

"Oi, how's that case file coming?"

Oh, Levi's timing couldn't possibly be worse. You turn in your chair. He's leaning against his office door, flipping through a few sheets in his binder. "I, uh..." you start, voice trailing off.

He looks up. He must realize how panicked you look, because his eyebrows raise. "Now what?"

You feel ridiculously small as you whisper, "my computer crashed."

"And?"

"And I can't find the file where I thought I saved it."

"You've tried the search function?"

"Yes."

Levi's frown deepens and you want to sink through your seat, into the floor, and never come back. He walks towards your computer, putting a hand on your mouse. "Shit happens," he says gruffly, leaning over you. He starts clicking and scrolling through your folders. "You think you're the first person that this happened to? We've got a back up drive."

"Oh," you murmur, shoulders sinking in relief.

Levi's hovering quite close to you, leaving only a few inches of space as he navigates through your computer screen. You're about to move when you feel his fingers lightly settle on your back, and your whole spine straightens up. "Relax," he mutters, and you're not sure whether he's telling you to relax about the computer crashing or his two fingers on your back.

You bite your lip, keeping yourself quiet. It feels like his touch is sending electric currents up your spine. 

"There," Levi says, letting go of the mouse and pointing at the screen. "Our back ups. Everything you save is automatically saved here as well."

"That's great," you say in relief. "Thank you so much."

"Is this it?" he asks, cursor hovering over the file. You nod, and he clicks on it. "Holy hell, intern, you were going to make me read all that?" Levi says incredulously, scrolling through the summary pages you made that were much too long. "Would it kill you to summarize?"

"Well, that's-"

"That's your summarized version, isn't it?" he interrupts, and when you don't reply, he knows he's right. "Summarize it better. If I see more than four bullet points in each section, I'll delete it."

You nod, swallowing the lump in your throat. He still hasn't moved his fingers from your back. "Yes, sir."

"Good. I need that in half an hour. Got it?"

"Yes."

He steps away from your computer. You gasp when his fingers lift from your back. He nods and heads back into his office, closing the door behind him, and you're left wondering if he could feel how badly your back is burning from his touch.

.

You start occasionally working late.

It doesn't bother you all that much. Besides, you're paid hourly, so any overtime hours get you a bonus on your paycheck. It's not like you have anything to do in the evenings anyways; you'd be curled up on your couch, watching some sort of show.

It doesn't happen often, either. Your first time working late was only an extra half hour because Levi had to get a proposal submitted. You weren't the only ones who stayed late; Erwin was there as well, and apparently Annie and Bertolt had some important business to take care of, so they were there too. Levi ended up kicking you out after half an hour, saying he could do the rest of it himself. The second time was very similar: you only got half an hour in before Levi kicked you out, saying he'd make Eren do it.

The third time, which happens in the second week of October, is much longer.

You glance up at the clock reading seven o'clock and then back down at your presentation, sifting through it yet again. Levi was supposed to have a meeting with several of the other regional managers next week about budgeting but at the last minute, they moved it up to tomorrow. 

Naturally, Levi spent the rest of the day in a foul mood, trying to prepare everything he needed for tomorrow. He handed you four different reports that he was supposed to present at the meeting, telling you he needed them summarized, highlighted, and put into a report, then went back into his office and hopped on the phone.

That was 3:30, and now it was 7:00. You're not sure he's had more than five minutes off the phone since.

Erwin left the office around six, and asking assuring him you'd be okay with just Levi, he left. And honestly? It was fine. Sitting alone in a huge office was a little weird and it made you a bit jumpy, but you can still hear the muffled sound of Levi on the phone, which keeps you from being in total silence.

"Well, it could be worse," you muse to yourself as you scroll through the presentation you'd drawn up. It had been a little over fifty slides, but in the past half hour you'd managed to condense it to thirty. If you'd learned anything about your boss, he liked to get to the point.

You amuse yourself with editing the fonts and playing with graphs and charts when the door to Levi's office finally opens. He looks pissed. "You're still here?" he asks sourly.

You nod. "Why, was I supposed to leave?"

"You could've left two hours ago and I wouldn't have blamed you," Levi mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fucking Garrison."

You hum in assent. "How were your calls?"

"Shitty. Had to reconstruct my whole schedule and get shit done for tomorrow because of this stupid meeting." He raises an eyebrow at you. "What're you working on?"

"Your presentation," you say, scooting your chair back and tilting your monitor so that he can see. 

"You did that?" Levi mutters, stepping towards you.

You shrug. "You told me to."

He doesn't reply, just studies the screen. You try not to squirm anxiously in your seat; you feel like a child showing off their artwork to the teacher and awaiting praise. "And the files?" he finally asks.

You hold them out to him. "Summarized, and I've tabbed the appropriate figures you'll need for tomorrow. I cross referenced it with some of our other online databases so all the information should be accurate. And, uh, I've got a rough presentation outline," you add, handing him a few pages clipped together. "Just important notes worth talking about in your presentation tomorrow. Sir."

Levi takes them from you carefully, eyeing you, then turns his attention to the folders. He flips through them, turning to the pages with the tabs. 

You wait, pinching your leg as a reminder to be patient.

"You saved me a few hours of work tonight," Levi says slowly, and you straighten up. That's the closest thing to a thank-you that you're going to get. 

"Well, that's my job."

"You'll be coming with me tomorrow."

Your eyes widen. "To- to the meeting? With the other branches?"

"Yes. You'll be note taking and observing, that's all. It'd be stupid for you to miss out on what your work went towards." He looks up at you, and you can see the exhaustion in his eyes. The last three hours on the phone must've been painful. "Go home."

You nod, smiling to yourself, and collect your things. Levi heads back into his office to grab his coat, and the two of you head down the elevator together and out the door. You pass a security guard, who waves to you as you both step out.

The air is cold, and you wish you'd brought a warmer coat. It's also pitch black outside, which is already causing your anxiety to spike. Waiting for the bus is going to be painful.

"You take the bus?" Levi asks. He's already halfway down the sidewalk to his car. You nod, and he scoffs. "C'mon. Get in."

You blink. "Pardon?"

He glares at you. "I'm driving you home. You're not waiting for a bus at this hour. Get in."

"It's no problem," you assure him, "I can-"

"You stayed late on my behalf," Levi argues, his eyes narrowed, "so I'm driving you home."

He doesn't say anything else, just swings into the driver's seat of his car: a shiny, black vehicle that looks way too expensive for you to even be near, let alone be in. Swallowing, you walk over to his vehicle and open the passenger door, letting yourself inside.

Just like his office space, it's spotless. The car looks brand new. You set your bag by your feet and carefully lean yourself back against the seat. "Your car is nice."

Levi shifts into reverse and turns, putting his hand behind your headrest as he looks over his shoulder to back out of his parking spot. You can't help but stare at him. Sharp jaw line, narrowed eyes, arm stretched out: he's ridiculously handsome. You've always thought he was, but there are moments like this where it's so much more apparent.

You avert your eyes and try to erase those sorts of thoughts from your mind. Levi shifts the car into drive and presses down on the gas.

It normally takes about ten minutes to get to work: thirty second walk to the bus stop, seven minute bus ride, then a two minute walk to your building, give or take. Driving, it only takes a few minutes.

And holy shit are these the longest few minutes of your life. 

You can't help fidgeting, messing with your jacket sleeves, crossing and uncrossing your ankles, shifting in the seat.

Eventually, Levi snaps, "for fuck's sake, stop squirming."

You freeze immediately. "Sorry."

He huffs, and you're not sure whether it's a scoff of amusement or exasperation. Probably the latter. "You fidget so much you'd think you have ants in your suit," he mutters.

"Sorry," you say again, and you inwardly curse yourself for apologizing so much.

Levi slows for a stop sign, and he glances at you. "Do I make you nervous?" he asks casually.

"Yes," you say immediately. You resist the urge to smack yourself in the forehead- you really need to start thinking before you speak. "I mean, you're my boss, of course you make me nervous," you amend quickly.

He takes a right. "You're not a very good liar."

What's he trying to imply? "I'm not lying," you tell him.

Levi doesn't reply. He glances at you one more time and then turns back to the road. You pinch yourself in the leg, trying to ground yourself. It almost feels like he's goading you into thinking about that night, thinking about one of the best nights of your life. Trying to get you to talk about it so that he doesn't have to.

It's only when Levi pulls into the parking lot of your apartment building that you realize you never told him your address.

The realization hits you like a brick as he parks his car and unlocks the door so that you can get out. "I never told you my address," you say hesitantly, wondering if you can make him bring the topic up this time.

He takes the bait. "I remembered it," Levi replies.

And it happens again: a stare down with Levi in which you can't seem to look away. It's been over a month since the night you both silently agreed not to talk about, yet since then, there's been several moments that make you want to explore it. Moments that make you want to find out if Levi wants you as badly as you want him, because it feels like your want gets worse with every passing day.

Levi's eyes slowly trail down, from your eyes to your lips, then down to your neck and chest. It's slow and it's deliberate. When he meets your eyes again, you see a fervor in them that wasn't there before.

Chills are running down your spine, and in that moment, you know. He hasn't forgotten your night together either, not by a long shot.

Levi shifts forward at the same time you do, and-

Your phone rings.

Both of you pause. Levi sits back first, turning his gaze to the front. The moment is broken. You reach for your phone, and nearly groan when you see your best friend's number.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Levi says, and that's the end of it.

You nod, fumbling with your bag, and say, "thanks for the ride."

As soon as you step out of the car and close the door, Levi reverses and backs out of the parking spot. You click the green button on your phone, and through gritted teeth, snap, "you are the worst cockblock and I hate you."

There's a laugh on the other end. "Love you too. Guess who got a job?"

You banish your frustration and force a happier tone as you reply to your friend, asking about her new job. You glance behind you, but Levi's car is already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've all got a friend that you just _know_ would call you right as you're about to make a move on a guy. Wooo sexual tension ;) 
> 
> Thank you so much for over 180 kudos- you're all so kind and your comments are so wonderful. Thank you so much! <3


	6. get out the way

You and Levi leave the office building at 8:30 am the next morning. You stiffen getting into Levi's car, remembering what happened yesterday, but Levi seems keen on pretending it never happened, so you do the same.

"It's an hour drive," Levi says as he pulls out of the parking lot. "Bring up the reports. May as well go over them while we drive."

You've been put in charge of keeping track of the reports, Levi's presentation speech, and a giant array of figures and graphs. The presentation itself is, generally, a request for more funding. Funding for office supplies, funding for new staff. Encompassed in his presentation are their budgetary requirements, the team's earnings over the past few years, and several graphs of price matching with other large supply companies. It's huge, but if anyone can handle it, Levi can.

So you run through it with him for the start of your drive, trying to think of questions that the other staff members might ask. Levi answers everything in his same monotone voice, but he answers without hesitation and covers every base so that there's no area where you can think of a follow up question. He's good- you're sure this presentation will go well.

"You know anything about the other branches?" Levi asks after you're done going through everything you can dig up.

You shrug. "Bits and pieces, just in passing."

"There's two others," he says, holding up two fingers. "We're headed to the Garrison. They're the building on the edge of the city. Whole lot of idiots who think they're all better than us. Then there's the main processors. That's where most of the higher ups and executives are. Erwin has meetings there at least once a week. We just call 'em MPs."

"MPs," you echo. "What do they call us?"

"Corps." 

"Why's that?"

"No idea." Levi leans the wheel left and switches lanes. "But just know they're all entitled morons and they look down on us."

You nod slowly, looking back at the road.

"And we're picking up Armin and Eren on the way back," Levi adds. "They're both visiting clients in the area."

"How're they getting down there?"

"Bus."

"You didn't want to drive them?"

"No, I didn't." Levi switches lanes again and shoots you an annoyed look. "If we had taken them, they'd be almost an hour early, and they both have enough to do already."

You nod again, focusing your eyes on the road. 

The rest of the drive is in silence. You manage to relax, but you're still reeling from the events of yesterday. Levi had checked you out and he hadn't exactly been shy about it, and then he'd leaned in. So had you, for that matter. He was going to kiss you, and you'd wanted him to, more badly than you've ever wanted anything in your life.

And now it was back to being coworkers. 

You wish you were a telepath. You could look into Levi's mind and try and see what the hell is going on in that head of his. 

When you arrive, the first thing you notice is how huge the building is compared to where you work. Your building back home has four floors; here, there's at least ten. You gape at the sheer size of the building, stumbling after Levi with your briefcase in hand. So this is the Garrison.

"You're letting in flies," he remarks, and you snap your jaw shut. 

You both head into the lobby, which is much larger than the lobby in your own building. The woman behind the desk perks up. You read her name tag: Maria. "Mr. Ackerman!" she greets. "Eighth floor. They're waiting for you."

"Are we late?" you ask Levi as you head towards the elevator.

He shakes his head. "No. They're just hellishly early." There's a ding, and the elevator doors open. You step in and press the button for the eighth floor; Levi follows and stands on your other side. "They might ask you questions," he adds, eyes trained on the glowing red number above the door. "Nothing difficult, just how you like the job. Otherwise, I need you to take notes of the important points that the Garrison bring up in their presentation. It'll probably be Hannes- he's Pixis's second in command."

"Pixis?" you ask.

"He's in charge. Like Erwin, but for the Garrison."

"So Hannes is your equivalent."

Levi wrinkles his nose. "Don't put that filthy alcoholic as my equal." He glances at you, his sharp grey eyes locked on yours. "If you ever have any questions, say them. You're not just an intern, you're part of the team."

You blink. That's a lot of trust for an intern who's only been around for a month and a half. You swallow hard and nod. Levi nods in return, satisfied, and turns back to the door.

The elevator dings. Levi steps out and you follow, the briefcase heavy in your grip. The first thing you notice is the lack of secretary. The second thing you notice is the desk arrangement. Back with the Corps, the desks were arranged in pods of three, which made for quick communication. Here, every desk is on its own, but there's still a lot of chatter of people calling to each other or those with their chairs turned around to talk to someone else. If you squint, you think you can make out some man playing solitaire. The third thing you notice is that the office is predominantly male, which makes you wrinkle your nose.

"Ah! Levi," someone calls, and you see a bald man with a mustache approaching. He sticks his hand out, and Levi shakes. "Good to see you."

"Pixis," he greets casually, but you can see the tension in his shoulders. "Staying?"

"Not today," he says, and you remember Levi saying Pixis was in charge of the Garrison. He holds his hand out to you. "I see you brought your intern."

You give him your name and shake. "Nice to meet you."

"You as well. Try not to fall asleep, these budget meetings can get lengthy." He smiles wryly and walks by you.

"Conference room," Levi says, and you follow him to a large room in the back of the office. Several people at the desks stare at you and whisper amongst each other. You're not sure what they're saying, but it's probably not good.

Levi knocks and opens the conference room door. Inside is a large round table with three people sitting around it: a blond man hunched over his papers, a larger man with wide eyes, and a man with combed dark hair. There's a girl in one of the chairs next to the door, and she looks about your age. When you lock eyes with her, she smiles.

"Levi," the larger man says, rising from his seat. "Welcome." He turns to you next. "He mentioned he was bringing his intern. I'm Rod Reiss, CEO. You can call me Rod."

You offer a small wave. "Nice to meet you."

Rod smiles, but it's nowhere near pleasant. "This is Hannes, assistant manager of this branch." The blond man flicks his hand up in a wave. "And this would be Nile, head manager of our other branch." The MPs, you remind yourself. "This is his intern, Hitch."

The woman waves at you, and you wave back, trying to set yourself at ease. "Let's get into this, shall we?" Nile says, gesturing to Levi. "Hannes has offered to start, unless you have any objections to that."

Levi shrugs casually and takes the seat next to Nile. Hitch is sitting by the door, not at the table, so you take a seat with her. "So you're the poor soul stuck with Levi, huh?" she whispers as soon as you sit down.

"Is his reputation that bad?" you whisper back, allowing yourself to smile.

Hitch grins. "Everyone talks about him like he's the scariest man alive. I thought he'd be taller."

You raise a hand to your mouth to hide your laugh. "How do you like it so far?" you ask as Hannes starts setting up with the projector at the front of the room.

She shrugs. "It's a job. It puts money in the pocket. Hopefully it leads to something. You?"

"It's good," you murmur. "Levi's not that bad."

Hitch giggles. "He seems pretty mean."

You glance at Levi. He's got an elbow propped up on the table and he's facing the projector screen, so his back is to you, but you can tell he's glaring daggers at Hannes. You laugh to yourself and shrug in reply to her statement. You can't really argue with that; he is sort of nasty when he wants to be.

Pixis was right: the budget presentations are definitely enough to bore you to death. Both you and Hitch take notes throughout Hannes's presentation, but he's boring, and there's no visual appeal to his slideshow. You'd gone through the Garrison's budget reports: consistent efforts in sales, and a consistently increasing budget. Compared to the Corps, at least, their budget is superb; your branch has gotten very minimal funding in comparison.

Levi goes, and you try your best not to stare. You know this presentation like the back of your hand, and you smile happily when you see that it looks good up on screen. Despite his consistently neutral tone, Levi is much more engaging than Hannes, and he does a better job communicating what he wants.

"Must be nice, having a hot boss," Hitch mutters.

Your eyes scan over Levi again: white collared shirt, black pants and jacket, every inch of him poised and sharp. Hitch is right; he's hot as hell. "I guess," you murmur in return.

"Mine's married with two kids," she replies quietly, jerking her chin at Nile. "That's no fun."

 _No fun._ Like she's implying that part of the job excitement is flirting with your boss. The worst part is, you can't even argue. You've savored every moment with Levi, every touch, every word of praise that you can get. For lack of a better term, you're smitten.

Nile goes after Levi, and his presentation is significantly cleaner than Hannes. It's quite formal and outlines everything well. He finishes, and then there's a debate. 

Well, 'debate' is putting it loosely. It's mostly Levi at everyone's throats. But in his defense, it feels like everyone is against him. From listening, you manage to gather that the Corps have never received a great budget, always getting the short end of the stick. Rod assures him that it's just a measure of resources and not performance, but Levi quickly refutes him with several tables of calculations of the Garrisons' capacity versus profit and your own, then crosses it with the work that Nile's branch has done. It's clear he's done this before.

Maybe two, two and a half hours have gone by when Rod finally says, "alright. Hannes, your office. Levi, you as well. Nile, you're good to go."

"It was nice meeting you," Hitch says formally, winking at you. "Hopefully I'll see you again soon."

"Likewise," you reply, smiling at her. 

You move to stand, but Levi's hand clamps by on your shoulder as he passes. "Stay," he says gruffly, making you feel an awful lot like a dog. "I'll call you if we need you. This isn't going to be pleasant."

You nod. "Got it."

"And call Arlert. See when he's wrapping up."

"Okay."

He releases you, and you drop into your seat like a puppet cut from its strings. Nile nods to you as he passes, and Hitch waves one last time. Hannes, Rod, and Levi disappear into one of the offices, the door shutting behind them. 

Well, he never said you had to stay in the conference room. You step around to the front of the office area and sit in one of the comfier chairs. No one seems to pay you any mind. You pull out your phone and find the picture you took of the employee contact list, then dial Armin's number.

He picks up after the second ring. "Hello! Armin Arlert speaking!"

"Hi," you reply, glancing around the office to make sure you haven't disturbed anyone, but it's noisy and no one seems to notice one more voice added to the chatter. "It's-"

"Oh! Hi! Levi said to expect your call. Yes, we closed the deal. We're just grabbing lunch now."

You grin. "Great."

"How much longer will you be?"

"Well, Levi just went with the CEO and the assistant manager of the Garrison into his office," you say, cocking your head so you can see through one of the windows. You glimpse Hannes at his desk, clicking through something on his computer, and Rod seems to be locked in a heated debate with Levi. "Doesn't look like it'll be wrapping up anything soon."

Armin laughs on the other end. "That just means more time for lunch. Thanks!"

"I'll call you when we're out."

"Got it. Good luck!"

Armin hangs up, and you tuck your phone back into your pocket and lean back in the chair. Your eyes drift across the Garrison's office. One of Hannes's arguments had been that they produce more results than the Corps, but that might just be because of the sheer size of the department. This floor alone has twenty-five people while yours has seventeen- and apparently your floor. And to think this is the eighth floor of the Garrison building. How many others are on the other floors?

You glance at one man's computer and scowl to yourself. "Is he seriously playing chess?" you mutter. Wasn't Hannes praising everyone for their productivity? "At least be more discrete," you add to yourself. The worker doesn't look like he's hiding it. You squint at his nametag on his desk: Lobov.

Frankly, you're no chess player, but it's more entertaining than doing nothing. You watch him make a move, then wait. _What's he waiting for?_ There's a long pause, then one of the opponent's pieces moves. The man- Lobov- shifts closer to his screen, clicking for his next move.

Any computer would've made their move much faster. He must be playing a real person.

You wonder if he's playing someone in the office. You glance around, trying to see anyone else's screen. Fruitless, you return your gaze to the first man's screen, right as he checkmates his opponent.

You look back into the main office just in time to see Hannes slam a fist quietly into his desk, muttering something. You see Levi and Rod look up, and Hannes brushes it off. Levi and Rod return to their discussion.

"No way," you whisper to yourself. Is the assistant manager playing fucking _chess_ in the middle of their meeting?

Lobov starts a new game, and your gaze shifts between him and Hannes in his office. Sure enough, when Hannes is studying his screen, Lobov isn't paying much attention, and when Lobov is making a move, Hannes is leaning into Rod and Levi's conversation. You're convinced- they're playing chess. The fucking audacity, to claim to be more productive than pull something like this.

After another fifteen minutes or so, the door to the office opens, and the CEO pokes his head out. "You, intern," he says, gesturing to you. "Come here for a second."

You blink in surprise, then stand, leaving your briefcase on the seat. When you enter the office, Rod shuts the door behind you and resumes his seat. "What can I do for you?" you ask politely.

"Just hoping for an outside opinion on a debate of ours," he says casually.

You exchange a glance with Levi. His glare screams _don't fuck this up._ "Happy to help, sir."

"Good, good. I've seen you- you've been observing the workplace," Rod says, glancing back to Hannes. Hannes is watching you and not his screen; it must not be his move. "You've spent the last month or so working with the Corps. What can you say to their productivity style? Anything at all. Meetings, desk layout, morale, personalities. Compared to what you've seen in the past while here, in the Garrison."

"She's only been here for three hours," Hannes says bluntly, and you feel your temper rise.

"Well, everyone back at the Corps has been nothing but welcoming and made me feel like one of the team," you say slowly. Levi rolls his eyes, almost as if to say _too cheesy._ "And I love their workstyle. I love the pods of three. It makes for easy communication, especially when I have questions, and it makes everyone feel like more of a team. It feels like everyone has known each other for years, and even though I've only just arrived, they all treat me like family."

Rod smiles wearily. "Even this one?" he jokes, nudging Levi with his elbow. "I'm told he's a tough nut to crack." Levi scowls.

You smile innocently. "You just need to know what kind of tea he likes, sir."

Levi's eyebrows rise. The CEO laughs. "And what you've seen of the Garrison so far?"

"It's a big office," you say, wondering how best to word what you've been observing for the last half hour. "And everyone seems to get along just fine. But because of the singular desks, people often have to either shout or travel to someone else's area to ask questions or get information. It makes the area sort of... well, chaotic."

Rod nods thoughtfully, and even Levi looks somewhat pleased. You try not to smile too much, thrilled that your input is valued.

At least, until Hannes mutters, "well, her opinion is obviously biased. C'mon, Rod, she's obviously too scared to talk about her workplace in front of her boss."

There are several rude things that you could say, many of which would probably get you fired, so you settle on, "my apologies, Mr. Hannes. Don't let me interrupt your chess game."

Silence ensues.

The look in Hannes's eyes is priceless, and you know your hunch is correct. "His what, sorry?" Rod asks, eyebrows furrowing.

"Oh, he's been playing an online chess game with one of his coworkers during this entire meeting," you say pleasantly, shooting Hannes the most sickeningly sweet smile you can muster. "I believe his name is Lobov? Best not leave him waiting too long, otherwise he'll become preoccupied by his phone."

"Hannes?" Rod says slowly.

Hannes moves fast, but Levi is faster. He tugs the monitor and twists it around. It's a spreadsheet with numbers, and for a second you think you might be wrong, but Levi takes Hannes's mouse from him and clicks on a separate internet tab. A game of chess pops up.

"Well then," Levi says, and he sounds awfully smug.

"Hannes," Rod says with a sigh of disappointment.

"If you wanted my opinion on productivity in the workplace, sir," you say. You swallow hard, willing your resolve to stay strong for just a bit longer. "We've just had two of our sales team close a huge deal downtown in the past twenty minutes that you've been in here. Yet the most productive thing I've seen your team do so far," you say firmly, looking to the blond man, "is manage to put you in checkmate in a game of online chess."

Another beat of silence. The CEO looks torn between disappointment and embarrassment.

"Yes, Hannes, I believe that answers your question," Levi says, voice carefully neutral. He's watching you out of the corner of his eye. "You really think she's scared of me?"

Hannes's mouth opens, then closes.

"I think that's enough for today," Rod says tiredly. "Levi, you're free to go. And take your intern with you."

Levi gives him a curt nod, and you follow him out the door, grabbing the briefcase on the way. He seemed fairly smug during the meeting, but you're wondering if he'll reprimand you now that you're not in front of the CEO. The two of you stop in front of the elevator and Levi presses the button to go down.

"You caused quite the scene," he muses.

You bristle slightly. The elevator doors open, and you both step in. "It was just an observation," you mutter, grip tightening on your case. "That's all."

Levi turns to face you as the doors close. "Anything to say for yourself?"

"I'm not going to apologize," you say flatly. "I don't regret a word I said. But- well- maybe I could've handled it better," you admit, eyes still glued on the elevator doors. "So I'll accept any sort of punishment you deem fit. And, well, if you want to fire me, I'll understand."

You tack the last bit on as an afterthought. Judging by Levi's reaction to the situation, he's not going to fire you, but it's worth putting up in the air anyways. 

Finally, the silence is too much to bear. You turn and look at Levi and stiffen up immediately. He's surveying you, watching your expressions and your body language. 

Then, you notice: he's got the same hunger in his eyes that he did yesterday in the parking lot. You wonder if he can see the same burning desire in your eyes that you've been trying to squash since day one, which has only gotten worse since your incident in the car yesterday. His eyes remain locked on you; it almost looks like he's weighing out his options.

Levi bites his lip, mumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like "fuck it" and surges forwards.

Your lips collide almost painfully, but it's such a relief that you have to stifle your groan as you respond to him. The briefcase clatters to the ground, forgotten, and you throw your arms around Levi's neck and kiss him back with the same amount of enthusiasm.

One of his hands circles your hip, and the other wraps around your back and slides down to your ass. Levi squeezes and you moan into the kiss, lips parting. With the opening, Levi's tongue presses into your mouth, and you push your tongue out to meet him.

Your shoulders hit the elevator wall, but Levi tugs your waist forward, pulling your hips flush with his. You thread your hands up into that unbelievably soft hair that you've been dying to touch again, lacing it between your fingers and twisting. Levi palms your ass through your pants again and you sink your teeth into his upper lip.

The animal inside you roars with satisfaction. It feels even better than your hookup a month and a half ago; somehow, the pining and the overall inappropriateness of the situation make it so much hotter. Levi's hand slides from your butt to your thigh and he lifts. You let him hoist your leg up as he pushes you harder into the elevator wall, your back digging into the railing.

The elevator dings.

Levi shoots back like lightning, and you have to grab onto the side railing of the elevator to keep yourself upright. You gape at Levi, lungs screaming for the oxygen he stole from you. It was only for a few seconds, but it feels like the world just tilted off of its axis.

His eyes linger on you for a second more before the doors slide open and he strides out like nothing happened.

After a dizzying second of collecting yourself, you mutter, "what the hell" and snatch your briefcase up from the ground, stumbling after your boss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 250 kudos? You guys are too kind. I'm going to cry. And I'm pretty sure this thing is going to be about 20 chapters. Probably. We'll see. I've got a basic plan- and don't worry, lots of smut on the way.
> 
> Hope this update was worth the wait. See you guys next week. All my love! <3


	7. so down

As soon as you're out of the building, Levi has you call Armin. You call him and get a location on where they're having lunch, and Levi starts to drive, informing you that it's only five minutes away.

He doesn't talk about what happened in the elevator.

You can still feel the pressure on your lips, his hand on your thigh, his hair between your fingers. Your body feels hypersensitive. If you shut your eyes, you can still picture Levi's fiery gaze on you, stripping you down with his eyes, before he finally decided to let go of whatever qualms he had about making a move.

His lips had been so, so soft...

You blink as Levi says, "we're here," and he pulls the car over the side of the street. You dial Armin's number again on your phone.

He picks up and says, "we can see your car, we'll be there in a second. Eren's just in the bathroom."

"Tell him if Jaeger doesn't hurry up, we're leaving without him," Levi says.

"If Eren doesn't hurry up, Levi's threatened to leave without him," you relay, pressing the phone tighter to your ear. 

There's the sound of fumbling on the other end before Armin chuckles. "Alright, he's out, we're coming."

You hang up and glance at Levi. "You wouldn't actually leave them, would you?"

"I would," he replies, eyes still trained forward at the car parked in front of you.

He won't even look at you.

For the second time that day, you wish you could pry his brain open and see what the hell's going on inside. Does he regret it? Wish it never happened? Does he want to do it again? 

The door to the back seat opens, and Armin slides in. He grins at you. "Hey! How'd it go?"

"I'm not sure," you say, glancing at Levi. He's still not looking at you. "I-"

"Hey!" Eren greets, sliding in next to Armin and shoving the blond over into the next seat. "Didn't get bored to death? I remember the one time I went, I fell asleep in the middle of it!"

"Yet somehow, we didn't fire you," Levi grumbles. As soon as Eren closes the door, Levi pulls away from the sidewalk and sets out on the road. 

Armin seems to sense the tension- you hate how sharp he is. "Did something happen?" he asks, frowning.

Eren slumps down. "We're not getting our budget again, are we?"

 _Again._ It sounds like they're used to disappointment. You glance at Levi again, then force your eyes back onto the road in front of you. "I'm not the person to ask," you say, brushing off the questions. "That was my first meeting, I'm not sure what the usual is." Whatever the usual is, you bet it's not having the intern rat out the Garrison for playing chess.

"Captain?" Armin asks tentatively.

Levi clicks his tongue. "I think we've got a good chance of getting what we want this year."

All three of you straighten up. "Really?" Eren says excitedly. "Does this mean we could get new chairs? God, my chair is so worn down-"

"Because you keep having races with Jean," Armin interrupts. "What went different this time?"

"Greenie here," Levi says, and you resist the urge to sink down into your seat, "called out Hannes for playing computer games in the middle of our meeting with one of the other workers. He'd been trying to argue that the Garrison produces better results and makes better use of their time, and that little blunder completely undermined his presentation. She did her damage and we left immediately after that."

"Don't say it like that," you mutter, crossing your arms.

He raises an eyebrow. "Would you rather me fire you?"

"Oh my god!" Eren yells next to your ear, and you nearly flinch. "You did not! You actually caught them playing games?"

"They've just been getting bolder and bolder," Armin says excitedly. "Wow! The look on his face must've been good."

You can't help but grin. "It was," you agree.

"Wow, wait until the higher ups hear about this," Eren continues enthusiastically. "You think old Hannes is gonna try and cover it up? He probably will. Did you get proof? Or something?"

"We don't need to wait for the higher ups to hear," Levi replies, stopping at a red light. "Rod was there."

"The CEO was there?" Armin cries. 

"Oh, hell yeah!" Eren says.

You groan, burying your face in your hands. 

The rest of the car ride is composed of Eren and Armin's chatter (you're pretty sure Eren has texted half the office about this incident by now) and occasionally you join in. Levi is dead silent the entire time, and you're grateful for the presence of the men in the back seat; any awkward silence from what you're dubbing the Elevator Incident is avoided.

When the four of you head back into the office, you're met with a round of applause. "Dear lord," you mutter.

"Called 'em out!" Ymir hoots from her desk. "That's our girl!"

"Nice going, Greenie!" Connie calls. He and Sasha are giving you a standing ovation. "Bravo!"

"Did you tell everyone?" you mutter to Eren.

He rubs the back of his head with his hand sheepishly. "I told Mikasa and Jean. And then Jean told Marco and Ymir, and Ymir probably told Historia, and Historia's too nice to keep something secret."

"Sorry," Historia says with a sheepish smile.

"Quiet down," Levi snaps. "You've all got better things to do."

'Better things to do' lasts all of ten seconds until Levi's office door closes and everyone breaks into chatter again, wanting the full story. The attention, albeit a bit uncomfortable at first, drives you to tell the story as best you can: noticing Lobov playing chess, seeing how his moves lined up with Hannes's computer activity in his office, then bringing it up when Hannes tried to belittle your contributions to the discussion.

Jean laughs. "Damn, I wish I was there. Sounds hilarious."

"And you said Rod Reiss was there?" Reiner says, and you nod. He chuckles. "Damn. Sounds perfect."

"I would've been scared to death," Bertolt says with a worried grin. 

"Did Levi yell at you?" Historia asks.

 _Well... not exactly._ "No, not really," you say, trying to keep the Elevator Incident at the back of your mind.

"What'd he do?" Mikasa asks.

You can't exactly say that the situation turned him on and he made out with you in an elevator. "Well, he seemed sort of smug," you say. "And Mr. Reiss just seemed so disappointed."

There's a collective laugh. "Serves them right," Eren says confidently. "They've been taking a huge chunk of our budget every year."

"Maybe we'll be able to get new phones," Marco says, smiling.

"New computers," Ymir adds. "These stupid ones keep crashing." With that, you can definitely agree.

"Or a new printer," Annie murmurs, glancing at the two printers located behind her desk. 

"Maybe we can splurge on some equipment!" Hange says excitedly, spinning in their chair. They'd wheeled out of their small office space to join the conversation. "Mike mentioned some new things down for the warehouse!"

The door to the office opens, and everyone looks up to see Erwin striding in. He notices everyone staring at him and raises a bushy eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"

Hange's the first to speak up. "Greenie knocked the Garrison down a couple levels!"

"Absolutely decimated them," Ymir adds unhelpfully.

"We might be getting our funding for once," Sasha says excitedly. "Could we get a new vending machine?"

Erwin's eyes land on you, and you shrug sheepishly. "I see," he says, and he smiles. "So the meeting went well, I assume?" You nod, but shrug again. "Well. I'll have to reconvene once Levi is free. Tell him I'll be in my office." His eyes flash- he's excited. "Well done," Erwin adds.

"Thank you, sir," you say.

As soon as Erwin's office door is closed, Connie claps you on the back. "Look at you!" he says with a laugh. 

"We should go out for food," Historia suggests with a large smile. "To celebrate!"

"Isn't that a bit premature?" you ask.

Hange's arm loops around your shoulders. "Nothing wrong with drinks with your coworkers! C'mon, I bet I can get Mike to come out this time. We can bring the warehouse crew!"

"Scouts?" Sasha asks excitedly.

Everyone stares at you, like they're waiting for your say-so. You're literally the newest member of the team, barely a month and a half of working, and you're not even a permanent position. Technically, you've only got another two months and a bit until you're done. Yet they treat you like one of them. They don't act differently; they don't treat you like an intern at all.

You grin. "Scouts."

Everyone cheers. Hange squeezes your shoulders. You glance back at Levi's office, but the door is closed. Despite all the excitement, you still can't let yourself be completely happy when you're still reeling from the events of earlier. 

You exhale and go back to grinning with the rest of the team. One thing at a time.

.

Levi calls you into his office later, just a few minutes before everyone will start wrapping up for the night. You're still jittery, shifting from foot to foot, fiddling with your fingers. You've got a nagging feeling in your stomach that feels anything but good.

"Leave the door open," Levi says, and something falls in your chest.

You nod and let your hand drop from the doorknob. "Yes?" you ask.

He sighs, and after what seems like a bit of an internal debate, Levi says, "good work today. I have no intention of punishing you for something I wish I could've done ages ago."

The praise makes your heart flutter. You force a smile, but you're still too tense to completely appreciate the compliment. "Thank you, sir."

"That being said," he continues, leaning forward on his desk, "I- I should..." Levi bites his tongue, and you're so stressed that it feels physically painful at this point. "I should apologize," he says flatly, "for what came afterwards."

Your head spins. The Elevator Incident. "Oh?" you manage.

He nods, more like he's trying to assure himself than you. "It was inappropriate," he says. "It shouldn't have happened."

Disappointment clouds your head. You open your mouth to speak, but you can't even think of what you should say. Levi's words are telling you one thing, but his face is telling you something else. His eyes are trained downwards, avoiding your gaze; his jaw is clenched. Eventually, when you don't come up with a response, he looks up, and you can see the frustration in his eyes.

"In all fairness, sir," you say carefully, "I'm getting mixed signals."

He's telling you it shouldn't have happened while simultaneously looking like he just wants to get up from his desk and press you up against the wall. This marks another time where you wish you could see what's going on in his head. By your guess, he knows it's inappropriate and is hoping to just avoid the situation entirely. But if you're reading this right, then he wants you as badly as you want him.

"And it's alright," you add before he can say anything else. You swallow hard. "I didn't mind."

Levi's eyes are cold and guarded. "Alright," he says slowly. "Have a good weekend."

 _Alright._ What the hell is that supposed to mean? Does he plan on pursuing this any further? You've just told him you didn't mind the kiss, the heat and passion in the elevator- and his response is fucking _alright?_

You frown, frustrated with whatever stupid situation you and Levi are in. "Have a good weekend," you repeat bitterly.

You wait a second longer, to see if he'll say anything else. 

He doesn't.

You turn and stride out of his office and back to your chair, refusing to look back and see his glare burning holes in your skull.

.

Levi doesn't show up for drinks with the group that night. You pretend to not be disappointed.

.

The next week at work is entirely uneventful. There's no days where you have to work late, no moments where you're left alone with Levi. Even if you were going to say something about last Friday, there's no opportunity to. Levi takes his tea from you every morning, hands you a file in return, and sends you on your way without so much as a "good morning". 

Friday hits, and it feels like it's been the longest week of your life. You've been waiting to see if Levi would do anything, but most exciting thing that's happened is Levi telling you "the tea isn't totally shit" when you brought it to him this morning.

Hell, Halloween is next week. You're almost two months in.

And if something doesn't happen between you and Levi soon, you're going to combust. There's only so much longer you can go before you're going to say something you regret.

At 4 pm on Friday, Levi calls you into his office. No, it's not anything unusual. Sometimes he's demanding updates on your progress, other times he's handing you more to work on, or occasionally he asks for more tea.

Except this time, he says "shut the door" and your interest is immediately piqued. 

"What's up?" you ask, pushing the door shut behind you.

Levi gestures to you to come to his side of the desk. "Email from Rod," he says casually. "Results of that meeting last week."

You gasp in surprise and move around to him, leaning down to read the email. It's addressed to Levi, Erwin, Nile (whom you remember from the meeting), Hannes, Pixis, and a few other names that you don't recognize. Ah, Hange's on the list too. You let your eyes skip down and read the email.

_'Please see the attached forms concerning our division of the budget this year between the branches. It is quite different from past years, and for further discussion, please feel free to arrange a meeting with me.'_

"So?" you ask, turning to Levi. You back up a bit to give him space; he's only a few inches away from you. "Did we get it?"

"For the first time in five years," Levi says, his lips twitching into some sort of smirk, "we not only hit the numbers we asked for, but we went above it."

Your jaw slips open. "You mean-"

"We got part of the Garrison's funding," he finishes.

"You did it," you whisper, grinning. 

Levi turns back to his screen and clicks on another email. "Read this one."

You lean down again. This one's also from Rod, but addressed just to Levi.

_'Levi,_

_Your presentation was well done; thank you for bringing to my attention the neglect I've had for your branch in recent years. It's nice to receive reminder that you are, in fact, a smaller branch, so it is to be expected that your profits are not as high as the others. However, your work should be complimented, as you've accomplished many things in the past year._

_I hope this budget for your next year will assist in boosting your production and allow for further success. As recent events have come to light-'_

"Does he mean that chess game?" you ask, looking back at Levi.

He nods. "Keep reading."

_'-it would not be unwise of me to show that these numbers cannot be taken for granted. I hope, following this announcement, that the other branches realize that although their consistency is valued, there is more work that could be done._

_Please extend my thanks to your intern. I can see why you spoke highly of her. She is a great addition to your team and I hope she can continue to be of assistance in her remaining time here at Eldian Enterprises.'_

You turn to Levi, smiling. "You spoke highly of me?"

He snorts. "The CEO is licking your boots and that's what you're focused on?"

You pause, thinking. "Well, if I may, sir, your opinion means more to me than the CEOs," you say carefully.

Levi is close, with you leaning on his desk to look at the computer and him in his chair next to you. "Does it?" he muses to himself, turning his head up to look at you.

You keep yourself still. "It does. You could've emailed me these," you add.

"I could've," he agrees.

But if he had, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be only inches away from Levi, staring at him, wondering if he's really thinking of doing something _now_ while everyone else is only a wall away. You lean down a bit lower on the desk, bringing yourself to the same level he's at.

Levi leans in, slowly, but not to kiss you: to bring his lips next to your ear.

"Do you know," he whispers, his voice sending chills down your spine, "what I want to do to you right now?"

Oh, you think you do.

"Show me," you whisper in return.

It's daring. It's also Levi's job on the line, potentially, if anyone found out. His body is tense beside you, and you will yourself not to move, to give him time to think. Because worst case scenario for you is that you lose your internship. He's got a lot more on the line.

His breath is hot on your neck. Your legs feel weak, like you might just collapse against the desk right then and there. But he's not moving. You squeeze your eyes shut, waiting.

Levi's lips ghost against your skin, the soft spot between your jaw and your ear, and you shudder. The touch is so tiny, so light, so miniscule. Your arms feel like they're shaking.

Then, the touch leaves. "No," Levi mutters.

Your head is still spinning, but you manage to straighten yourself up, trying to compose yourself. You stifle your disappointment. "Okay," you force out.

"Not..." Levi sighs, pressing a hand into his forehead. The confliction is evident in his tone and in his expression. "Not now."

"Then when?" you ask. 

Levi doesn't reply.

Does he know? Does he know how crazy he makes you, how he keeps you up at night, how you can't even imagine laying with another man because you're just going to keep comparing them to him?

You're compelled with the urge to tell him, to make him understand. "You're driving me insane," you whisper. "You know that, right?"

Levi leans back in his chair, his eyes still locked on you. "I'm your boss," he says. 

He says it in a way that indicates that _you_ should be the one scared by the situation, not him. Like you're the one with something to lose. It's ludicrous, really; you've weighed this out several times in your head throughout the last week, and every time you've come out with the same conclusion. You're willing to take the risk. 

He's got a lot more to consider. It should be him making the decision if he wants to go through with this, but frankly, Levi's mixed signals are pissing you off.

You set your jaw. "And?"

"That doesn't scare you?"

A laugh bubbles up from your chest. "Oh, it does," you agree, but you recognize that the moment is broken, and you head towards the door. "But I'm not the one with the most to lose," you say, hand resting lightly on the doorknob.

Levi rests an elbow on the desk and settles his chin in his palm. "Is that so?"

"You don't scare me, Levi," you say, using his name for the first time since your work term started- you'd stuck with 'sir' or 'boss' the entire time. You don't miss how Levi's spine goes rigid. "Your position might, but not enough for me to back down. You have the most to lose, so this is up to you. Just know that I'm not opposed."

He doesn't reply, instead choosing to eye you warily.

You smile politely. "Thank you for the praise, sir," you say quietly. "I'll be at my desk if you need me."

You open door and head out without looking back, then shut it firmly behind you. You exhale shakily and squeeze your eyes shut. You did it- you put the ball in his court, for lack of a better metaphor. You're done chasing him- he's got to come to you.

You bring your hand up to your neck. It's like you can still feel his breath there.

"Oi, Greenie!" Connie calls. "What's up?"

You wonder if you can spill the good news. Before you can think of anything to say, Erwin steps out of his office, and heads swivel to look at him. He sees you and smiles. "I assume Levi's informed you."

"Yes, sir," you reply, grinning. 

"Then feel free to share."

Everyone's staring at you now, but you can't afford to hold it in any longer. "We got the budget," you say excitedly, and everyone perks up. "Our goal, and then a chunk of the Garrison's."

The office bursts into cheers and chatter. Hange and Mike both come out of their separate office area to celebrate with the rest of the group. You smile, heading back to your desk as Sasha and Connie already start to make plans for drinks tonight, and glance back at Levi's office. He's the only one not out here, celebrating with the group. He should be.

Erwin seems to read your mind. He walks around the office perimeter, striding behind your desk, and knocks on Levi's door. "Levi," he calls, "you should be out here."

The door swings open. "I don't need to be out here," he snaps, "I can hear those noisy idiots even with the door closed."

"Then you understand that we're celebrating," Erwin says, undeterred by Levi's attitude. "You're required to join us."

Levi scowls. He's glaring at Erwin. "Scouts again?"

"Scouts!" several of your coworkers echo.

"This is thanks to you," the blond reminds him gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's hardly a celebration if the man you're celebrating isn't there."

Levi jerks his chin at you, still keeping eye contact with Erwin. "She's got as much of a hand in this as I do."

"And she's joining us," Erwin says, glancing at you with a strong gaze that reads _you'd better be coming with us._ You nod quickly, and the manager smiles pleasantly. "There. So we'll see you there?"

"Fine, but someone's buying me my first drink."

The door shuts. Erwin blinks in surprise, then turns back to the rest of you. "That didn't take nearly as much convincing as I expected. He's in a good mood."

"I call not buying Levi's drink!" Hange shouts, shooting a hand in the air. "I got it last time!"

"I'll get Greenie a drink," Ymir calls, winking at you. "She deserves one too."

"I won't say no to that," you say with a grin.

Erwin, as a treat, lets the office go half an hour early. You get piled into a car with Connie and Sasha (which is far more chaotic that you anticipated) and after two near traffic incidents, you make it to Scouts. Sure enough, Ymir buys you a drink, and there's a quick order for hot wings. This time, you try some. 

You catch Levi staring at you frequently, eyes kept low but alight with some sort of deeper yearning. _His turn,_ you remind yourself, thinking of your outburst in his office. You told him you weren't scared, and it was clear he wanted you. And that you wanted him. You left it up to him, put him in charge. It's much more dangerous for him, anyways: at worst, you lose a four month internship that you're already almost halfway done. For him, he could lose his job. Levi doesn't seem overly concerned about the consequences when you're in private, though.

All you need now is for him to have an opportunity, which isn't going to be here at the table at Scouts surrounded by your coworkers.

You take an idle sip of your drink. _Soon,_ you think to yourself.

Soon, very soon, Levi's going to cave, and you're looking forward to when he does.

.

Levi goes home from Scouts more frustrated than he's ever been in his whole life.

He collapses on his couch, jacket tossed aside, and groans up to the ceiling. God fucking _damn_ you and every single thing that led to you being his intern. 

You'd told him you weren't afraid. Why fucking not?

He's your boss- your fucking _boss._ Why wouldn't that scare you? It's something that he could hold against you, something that could backfire in one hundred different ways, each ending in one- or both- of you being fired.

Levi's fingers float down to his belt buckle and he undoes it subconsciously. Sure, it's just an internship. There'll be more. But getting fired midway for sleeping with your boss ought to put a dent in future job opportunities. You're talented, he knows it, but getting fired is never a good thing on a resume.

You're fucking intoxicating is the problem. Levi bites his lip as his fingers start undoing the buttons of his pants. Calling out the Garrison- even fucking Rod, who was always too dumb to see reason, acknowledged you and your value.

And you'd hadn't even cared about the CEO. You'd just wanted his approval.

Levi doesn't realize what he's doing until his fingers are wrapped around his cock and he groans. Damn you. Damn how attractive you are, how witty you are- damn how fucking desirable you are. "Fuck," Levi groans, low and quiet as he starts shifting his hand, jerking himself off in quick pulls.

He'd tried. He really did. He tried to forget what happened between you two on that night in early September. But seeing you every day in the office, seeing you handle everything he threw at you and assert yourself- fuck if you weren't even bit as alluring as you were in the bar on that first night.

His grip tightens on his cock. After that kiss in the Garrison building, when he'd caved and shoved you up against the wall of the elevator- it was clear he had an issue. 

Hell, it wasn't even that he missed just having sex. That night, while the rest of the company was at Scouts, he'd went back to the bar and grabbed the first woman that threw herself at him. She'd been more than eager to suck him off, but he'd ended up stopping her not even thirty seconds in, because he couldn't go a second without comparing her to you; she was too sloppy, too much at the wrong times. You'd seemed to dig out all of his sensitive spots without batting an eye.

It was you. He missed sex, but he only missed it with you- you were the best fuck he'd ever had, and having you sit a few meters away and knowing that you're _right fucking there_ but he can't- no, not that he can't, he _shouldn't_ do anything... but you'd kissed him back, you'd said you wanted to, you told him in his office today-

Levi thinks of your lips around his dick, your hollowed cheeks, your silky hair as he'd pulled it. "God dammit, Red," he mutters, pressing his free hand to his forehead as his cock twitches in his hand.

What exactly had you said? That he's driving you insane? If you're insane, then what does that make him?

Your lips, your ass, your fucking mouth and your heat and your _tongue-_

Levi comes hard with a groan, his entire body vibrating in released tension. He pants, coming down from his high, and glances down at the mess he made.

He sighs and tips his head back against the couch. 

Yeah. He's fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter because 1) I promised animaljammer330 ;) and 2) I somehow got almost 100 kudos in three days and I'm still mildly freaked out?? 
> 
> I can't thank you all enough. This story was originally intended to just be shameless smut but the writer in me insisted I needed a plot. But fear not, fellow smut hoes- next chapter ;)
> 
> Thank you so much for all of the support. I love you all. Next update on Tuesday. <3


	8. mouth of the devil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter titles are now random Mother Mother songs. Don't read too much into it... except for this one. Yeah, this one fits pretty well.
> 
> Here's where it starts getting explicit- which I assume is what you came for. Enjoy! <3

Halloween falls on a Wednesday, and apparently it's a huge office event. When you were leaving work on the Tuesday night before, Hange had already started decorating. You'd watched in interest as they'd unlocked one of the cabinets and pulled out a department store's worth of candy and decorations. "I had to wait until Sasha left," they'd explained with a grin, "or else none of this candy would be here for tomorrow."

"Do you need me to bring anything?"

"Nope! Just dress up!" Hange chirps, pulling out several orange and black candy bowls. Is that drawer endless? "And go all out! Everyone else does!"

So you'd raided the local dollar store on Tuesday night and woken up extra early on Wednesday morning to get yourself ready. You'd decided to go simple: a devil. It's a classic, but it also allows you to mix and match something red and black from your wardrobe. You'd bought a headband with devil horns, a pitchfork, and a cape, and you pick out the set of black pumps from your closet that you haven't worn since your night at the club.

Black slacks and a red, long-sleeved collared shirt later, you're dolled up in front of your mirror and feeling really damn good. "I look hot," you say to yourself, turning in a circle. With the cape and horns, you pass for a sexy devil while still being work appropriate. 

You pile the other tops and bottoms you'd tried on into your arms and go back to your closet, carefully putting them all away. You pick up your heels and a flash of something red in the deepest part of your closet catches your eyes.

"I missed something?" you muse, tugging at the fabric.

It's your dress- your red dress that you'd worn to the club what feels like ages ago, when you'd hooked up with Levi. "Oh," you sigh, holding it up in front of you. _It's such a nice dress._

Your encounter with Levi from last Friday is still fresh in your mind. You trail your fingers along your neck, remembering where his lips were.

"Fuck it," you decide.

Five minutes later, you're in your red dress- paired with a black blazer and then black tights, you've still got to stay somewhat work appropriate- and you look hot as hell. With your black heels, plus the cape and horns, you're toeing the line between an office party costume and a club costume, but you know Levi's going to notice. He'll notice the dress.

 _He will,_ you tell yourself, checking out your ass in the mirror. _He'll definitely notice._

.

Levi has his head down in his reports when there's a knock on his office door. He hears your voice call, "tea."

"Yeah," he replies.

The door opens, and his eyes flick up and back down to his reports, and then up again.

What the _hell_ are you wearing?

Dear fucking lord, it's that dress. It's that damn red dress that hugs your curves perfectly and, he notices as you shut the door, it frames your ass even better than it had on that night in the bar. _Is that even possible?_ He really should take his eyes off of you, he _should,_ but he wants to imprint the image of you into his brain.

You smile- god, you're wearing red lipstick, Levi's going to have an aneurysm- and lean in to set his tea down. "Peppermint," you say, and Levi refuses to let his eyes fall to your cleavage. "Happy Halloween, sir. What's your costume?"

Somehow, he manages to get his tongue to work and says, "I don't dress up."

"Ah." You straighten up again. The effort to physically _drag_ his eyes away from your form and to his reports feels much more painful than it should be. 

"I want that file on the Forster's reworked and back on my desk by noon," Levi says.

"Got it, boss," you say, walking back to the door. "Anything else?"

"No," he says so that he doesn't have to look up at you, because Levi knows if he does, he won't be able to look away. "Get out."

You laugh. "Alright."

Levi caves, and he looks up anyways. You're midway through closing the door, and he still gets a full glimpse of your ass. The door closes. His eyes linger on the closed door for at least another thirty seconds.

Then, Levi lets his forehead drop to his reports, and he groans.

.

When Hange said all out, they really meant all out. Some of the costumes are simple enough: Historia's an angel, Ymir is a cop, Annie's thrown a crown on her head and said _good enough._ Others are a bit more complex: Eren, Mikasa, and Armin have all coordinated as Alvin and the chipmunks, Reiner's wearing a full set of knight armor, Bertolt is a scarecrow (there's straw everywhere around his desk), and Jean and Marco are the top and bottom half of a horse. 

Connie's worn a full pirate get up and Sasha is a witch, and every once in a while they sporadically burst into a sword duel: Connie's plastic sword versus Sasha's wooden broom.

"En garde!" Connie shouts, swinging at Sasha's head.

His swing is wide and you have to duck low to make sure you're not hit. "Take that!" Sasha cries, blocking his swing with her broom.

They both push against each other, and eventually, Connie's sword slips and falls to hit you. You raise your pitchfork over your head to block it- it's a good thing you decided to bring it. "Another challenger!" Connie says triumphantly. "A three way!"

"Connie, don't say it like that," Jean says with a groan.

You laugh and point your pitchfork at Sasha. "Alliance?"

Sasha narrows her eyes. "How can I trust you?"

You reach into your desk drawer and grab some chocolates that you'd snagged from Historia's desk coming in. Sasha's eyes widen and she snatches them from you greedily. "Alright! Alliance!"

"Betrayed over candy!" Connie bemoans, slumping at his desk. "A tragedy!"

"The only tragedy is that costume," Ymir says with a snort. "Didn't you wear that last year?"

"It's a classic!" he argues. "Weren't you a cop last year?"

"Yeah, and now I'm an FBI agent," she corrects, tipping her hat at him. "Obviously different."

Erwin's office door opens. He's wearing a bald cap and a fake mustache, which had initially scared the hell out of everyone in the office until he said "I'm dressing up as Pixis." Hange had started laughing so hard that they had to excuse themselves (only after taking a few pictures).

"Make sure you all get your work done early and we'll have a party at 4," Erwin says, eyes surveying the office.

"Yes, sir!" everyone choruses.

You glance sideways at Levi's office. The door is closed. He'd definitely been staring at you; you'd caught his eyes dropping down to your chest as you bent down to give him his tea. With a sigh, you look back to your computer monitor, trying unsuccessfully to avoid thinking about him.

Luckily, the day passes fast, and 4 pm approaches quickly. You follow everyone else down to the warehouse, where Hange's spent the better part of their day setting up for the party. Their time has paid off: everything is well decorated, there's a huge table of food that Sasha scrambles to, and they've set up a projector playing some sort of thriller on the far wall.

"Try the punch!" Hange says brightly, thrusting a cup into your hand. Hange's dressed up as a mad scientist, and the punch is a bubbly green that exactly like something from a horror movie. "C'mon, it's good," they insist.

You shrug- what's the worst that could happen?- and take a sip. You can taste the vodka but it's also got a delicious green apple flavor. "This is great," you say with a grin.

Hange whoops. "See! It's not poisonous!" they declare, pointing a finger at Eren and Jean, who have both been eyeing their cups skeptically.

"You've poisoned us before," Jean objects.

"That was one time, and it was by accident!"

"Are we sure it was an accident?" Eren says.

"It could be a poison that takes a while to come into effect," Armin suggests helpfully.

"Well then, I'd be fucked," Mike mutters as he walks by. He's dressed up as a lumberjack- quite fitting for his role as a foreman.

"There's vodka in this!" Historia cries out.

"And?!" Hange yells back.

"Hange, it's Wednesday!"

_"And?!"_

You wander, chat, and watch a bit of _The Purge._ But throughout the hour, your eyes still seek out Levi. He's been mostly keeping to himself, occasionally striking up conversations with some of the warehouse workers or Hange. Every once in a while, you think you catch him staring at you, but he always shifts his eyes away so quickly that you're never quite sure.

5 pm is fast approaching, and although it feels like you've played all of your cards for today, you're desperate for something to happen between you and Levi. You wore the dress from when you hooked up- if that wasn't a strong hint you didn't know what was.

Until, right before everyone starts wrapping up and you lose hope, he starts coming towards you. You pretend not to notice him until he's right next to you. "We've got some shit to get done," he says gruffly. "So we're staying late."

"Aw, Captain, it's Halloween!" Sasha says in protest.

Levi's eyes narrow at you. "Were you planning on going out?"

"No," you reply.

"Then there's no reason she can't stay," he objects, glaring at Sasha.

"You're cruel," Hange points out. Everyone starts making their way to the elevators to head back up to the fourth floor. "Let the poor girl go home and watch a horror movie or something!"

"Not everyone enjoys horror movies, Shitty Glasses," Levi says.

The elevator dings and everyone piles in. You're blocked into one of the back corners by Jean and Marco. Everyone's starting to strip off their costumes (Bertolt is shedding straw everywhere) and when the elevator opens, people trip over themselves trying to get to their desks.

You're going to be staying late with Levi. If that isn't a good sign, you don't know what is. 

The rest of your coworkers start grabbing their belongings and bidding everyone goodbye. You sit yourself down at your desk and pull up the files you were working on today. Maybe you're wrong and he actually wants this all finished. 

"Don't stay too late," Erwin warns, holding open the office door for Annie. They're the last ones to leave.

Levi is leaning against his office door. He nods in return. "We won't."

Erwin nods back, then leaves. The door shuts.

You glance up at Levi. His grey gaze is piercing you like hot needles, like he's undressing you with his eyes. "So what are we working on?" you ask innocently.

"You're a piece of work, aren't you," Levi says.

"I try."

He stalks towards you, and you stand up from your desk, your chair rolling backwards. You don't care enough to pull it back towards you; your heart's going a mile a minute in your chest.

Levi stops. He's a foot away from you, and it's somehow too close and too far at the same time. "You've driven me up a wall," he whispers. "That dress, you- you wore that on purpose. Didn't you?"

Your lips twitch into a smirk. "Obviously."

He hisses through his teeth. His hands are jammed into his pockets and it almost looks like he's physically restraining himself. "God dammit, Red," he murmurs, and the nickname sends small sparks down to your core. "I wish you were easier to ignore."

You open your mouth to reply, but Levi closes the distance, grabs your head, and pulls you towards him.

The instant relief of his lips on yours makes your legs shake and your head swim. It hasn't even been that long- two Fridays ago, you think- but just the kiss alone is sending pulses down your spine and you're like jelly in his hands. Levi bites your bottom lip and wraps his hands around your waist, then lets them fall to your ass. You reach up and lace your fingers behind his head, relishing in the feeling of his soft hair between your fingers.

Levi tugs, and the both of you stumble towards his office, a mess of hands and lips. Levi's mouth is fast and hot, moving on you like it's the only chance he'll ever have, and his hands are squeezing hard enough to leave marks- not that you mind.

You kick the door shut behind you (just in case) and Levi's hands slip under your dress, pulling it up to your hips. "You wore tights," he complains between kisses.

"Work appropriate," you say back, laughing.

You walk Levi backwards to his chair, and when you push gently, he sits back in the leather. Your fingers work to undo the first few buttons of his shirt, exposing some of his skin. You break your kiss just to press your lips to his exposed chest. 

Levi's breathing is coming in pants, and his hands latch onto the armrests of the chair. It almost looks like he's holding on for dear life.

"You've been waiting for this," you hum to yourself, gaze drifting down to the obvious bulge in his pants and then back up to his eyes. "Haven't you?"

Levi doesn't reply, but his eyes drop down to your hands as you slide them down his chest to his belt buckle. He shoots his eyes back up to yours, and you hold his gaze as you undo his belt. He doesn't have to answer for you to know that his answer is yes.

You already know he's not going to say much, so you make it your own personal goal to see what noises you can get out of him. Carefully, Levi lifts his hips so you can ease his slacks down to his thighs, and you force yourself to keep your eyes on Levi as you do. His jaw is clenched tight and he's as still as a statue, his hands bunched into fists by his sides.

"Relax," you whisper, nudging him backwards until he finally sits back into his chair. Levi falls back grudgingly, spine rigid against the back of the chair, eyes still glued to you. You pause, suddenly wary. "Can I?" you ask, just wanting to make sure he's okay with this.

Levi groans. "Yes, you fucking tease. C'mon."

You grin, finally allowing yourself to glance down now that you've gotten his permission, and you guide his cock out of his boxers. You can already feel the dampness between your legs building up, and it gets worse when you see his erection. He's already rock hard, and there's a vicious swell of pride through you knowing that you did that. You've got Levi- your _boss-_ in his chair, exposed, waiting for your mouth, and that thought alone drives heat between your legs.

You take Levi's dick in your hand and rub your thumb over the tip, feeling the wetness that's already collected there. Levi hisses through his teeth as you rub slow circles on the head of his cock with the pad of your thumb. 

Slowly, you lower yourself to your knees, eye level with his waist. You glance up at him again; his eyes are hazed over, his jaw is tight, and he's watching you with such a burning intensity that you can feel the wetness collecting in your underwear.

Torturously slow, you touch your tongue to his base and drag it up the shaft, keeping eye contact with him as you do it. Levi's grip tightens around the arm of the chair and he looks like he might snap it off. "Fuck, Red," he grunts, his voice low. _"Fuck."_

The encouragement only fuels your own need, and you ponder pulling down your tights and letting your fingers wander over your sex. As fulfilling and relieving as that would be, you want right now to be about Levi, so he deserves your full attention.

In an effort to keep your hands distracted, you brace one on his thigh and wrap your other around his cock, giving it a slow pull. A muffled grunt escapes Levi, but he keeps his eyes on you. His eyes feel like they're burning you, scorching your skin. Slowly, as much as you dare, you shift forward and wrap your lips around the tip of his cock. You feel him pulse in your hand, and you slowly take more of him into your mouth.

You feel Levi twitch in your throat, and he groans, apparently abandoning his attempts to keep himself quiet. You leave your hand wrapped around the base and take a moment to savor this moment- you've got your boss's throbbing erection down your throat and he's at complete mercy to your mouth. 

To say you've been imagining this since the beginning of your work term wouldn't be an overstatement. You've literally been dreaming about this, taking his huge cock into your mouth and trying to work those tiny satisfied sounds out of him. _And yet, reality is so much better than the dream,_ you think as you slide up and swirl your tongue around the tip.

You press your tongue to the underside of his cock and Levi lets out a sound that doesn't sound human. "Shit, Red, don't- don't do that," he whispers.

Ah, so he's sensitive. You hadn't really had the time to notice in your first hook up. Naturally, you repeat the motion, taking him out of your mouth and liking a strip from his base to his tip. You pause at the tip and push your tongue against his sensitive spot. "Don't do what?" you murmur innocently, giving him another slow pull.

"You're evil," Levi murmurs, letting go of the chair's armrest and raking his hand through his hair. You grin and push your lips over the head of his cock and he groans. "Fucking evil, Red."

You pull off of him just to grin again. "It's the costume," you mock.

Levi's hand reaches out for your hair. He grabs your headband with the devil horns and rips it away. "The fuck it is," he snarls, voice strained. "You- You're- I can't stop fucking thinking about-"

In one fluid motion, you slide your mouth back over Levi's cock and take him as far as you possibly can into the back of your throat, and Levi actually _whines_ and tips his head back. You hold him in your mouth, enjoying how he's stretching your throat out and pushing against your gag reflex. He's huge, and although you knew that going into this, you're reminded of it every time his cock touches the back of your throat, pulsing in your mouth.

The throbbing ache between your legs is almost too much to ignore now, but judging by the way Levi's twitching in your mouth, he's getting close. You're also well aware that if tonight is anything like your night together almost two months ago, he's going to pay you back tenfold.

So you ignore your own desire and start to bob your head. Levi's cock seems to swell and tighten in your mouth, and you open your eyes. The sight of Levi with his head thrown back is beautiful and you moan around him, sending vibrations up his shaft. You hear his shoe scuff against the ground and you finally feel his fingers thread into your hair, messing it up beyond quick repair.

Levi's nails scrape against your scalp, and you hear him hiss, "shit- shit, Red, I'm close," which only drives to you keep going. Levi doesn't shove you around with his hands, just lets them rest, tangled in your hair. You pick up your pace, bobbing back and forth, the head of his cock repeatedly hitting the back of your throat.

You feel him shudder, and Levi groans- then he's cumming hard into your mouth. His hands seize your hair and hold your head in place, but it's not like you were going anywhere; you swallow everything he gives you. You dig your fingernails into his leg, trying not to choke. Levi shakes as he empties himself into your throat, and you don't miss a single drop. The taste of it burns your mouth but you're not about to let any of it go.

Levi's fingers on your head finally relax, and you take that as a sign that he's done. Slowly, you pull your head back, taking his cock out of your mouth. You gasp, choking on the air. You hadn't even realized how badly you needed oxygen, and it stings your throat.

Two fingers press under your chin, and Levi tilts your head up. "You're okay?" he asks, and his voice is ragged. 

You nod, taking your hands off of him and wiping the corner of your mouth. "You?"

He nods, and his fingers slide from under your chin around to the back of your neck. He pulls you lightly and bends over, leaning down to press his lips to yours. You sigh into his mouth, wondering if he can taste himself on your lips. 

His fingers rise to the back of your head and he pulls again. You stumble to your feet. Does he want you on his lap? You feel like that'd be awkward with the chair. Instead, you settle for putting your hands on either armrest and leaning in to continue kissing Levi.

Levi's hand stays at the back of your head, but his other hand moves to your thigh. Your breath hitches in your throat as his fingers skim the inside of your legs, heading up towards your pussy. Even through your tights, his feather light touch is causing your legs to shake.

He brushes a finger against your ache and you whimper into your kiss, but even the slightest touch is such a relief. Yet at the same time, it's nowhere near enough. "Bet you wanted to touch yourself," Levi murmurs huskily, lips moving towards your ear. "Look how wet you are."

You drop your head onto his shoulder, and his other hand slides under your dress and up to your waist. Carefully, he starts pulling your tights down. The cool office air hits your cunt like an electric shock, and you fidget in anticipation.

A door slams.

Levi's hands drop away from you, and you nearly flinch from the loud noise. He stands up, the wheels on his chair rolling backwards. "Levi-" you whisper, but he cuts you off by pressing a finger to your lips.

"Stay," he murmurs, tugging up his pants and doing up his belt as he walks around his desk to his office door.

Knowing the moment's broken, you pull your tights back up. The throbbing between your legs seems to have doubled in intensity- so close yet so far. You'll have to do something about how ridiculously shaky your legs are on your own later, which depresses you like nothing else ever has.

Levi opens the door and sticks his head out. You hear, "oh, Mr. Ackerman. Thought that was your car out front."

"Working late," he replies, and you stay perfectly still so whoever it is isn't alerted to your presence. "Be out soon."

"All good, sir. Just grabbin' the trash."

You see Levi nod, and then you hear another door close. "Janitor," Levi says, and your shoulders dip in relief.

There's a bit of an awkward silence. You figure you've overstayed your welcome in his office. He'd got what he wanted, after all; you'd sucked him off. Although you hoped he'd give you the same pleasure, you wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

You nod nervously, swallowing, and step around his desk. "Uh, so," you say, biting the inside of your cheek. 

Levi raises an eyebrow.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," you say, slipping by him and out the door.

He catches your wrist, and you spin to face him. "Did I say I was done with you?" Levi says lowly, and you bite your lip to stop yourself from agreeing too fast. "Because I'm not."

You grin, and echo your words from your first night together. "Your place or mine?"

He smirks. "Yours."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand who's ready for a whole bunch of shameless smut?? (ノ・∀・)ノ
> 
> Thank you so so much for over 400 kudos- you're all so fantastic and much too kind to me. A few people have asked about other forms of social media I use- what do people use these days? Tumblr? TikTok? Twitter??? I feel so out of touch, aha. I'm 19- I should not be feeling this old. Let me know and I'll set something up. I'd love to meet more of you.
> 
> I appreciate you all more than words can describe. So much love. See you next week! <3


	9. ghosting

You grab your belongings as fast as you possibly can and nearly trip over your own feet as you head to the elevator. Levi is already ahead of you, his jacket over his shoulders and suitcase in hand.

The two of you head into the elevator, and as soon as the doors shut, Levi's free hand moves to cup your cheek and he pulls you in. You kiss him back, arms going around his shoulders.

It's not as furious as your kiss in the office had been; it's a bit slower and more methodical. Almost like Levi's trying to slow your pace down a bit.

"You've got a thing for elevators?" you tease when the elevator dings and he pulls away.

Levi turns away from you, scoffing. "No. They're disgusting."

"Then what was that two weeks ago?" you push, following him out into the main lobby. Levi opens the door and you follow him out of the building and down the sidewalk to where he's parked his car. "You didn't seem to care when we were in the Garrison building," you add, trying to dig some sort of admission out of him. "And those ones were nastier than ours."

"They're a bunch of pigs," Levi grumbles, fishing his keys out of his jacket pocket. "Their janitors are shit and none of them know how to clean."

You laugh. Levi clicks the button on his keys and the lights on his car flash to indicate it's unlocked. You wait for him to say something else, but he doesn't- he's stalling, you realize- so you open the door to the passenger seat and hop inside. Levi jams his keys into place, twists them, and the car comes to life. "So?" you prompt.

Levi clicks his seatbelt into place. "So what?" he says.

You sigh to yourself. Alright, so he's not going to answer your questions after all. "And you say I'm a piece of work," you mutter, crossing your arms and turning your head to glare out the window.

A hand tangles into your hair. You cry out something in protest, but Levi's already got a tight grip. He forcefully turns your head towards him, and your mouth slips open at his sudden aggression.

"I've always known the Garrison are full of lazy assholes," Levi says, eyes narrowed, "but Rod's been too blind to see that for years, and they've always been careful enough not to get caught. Until," he murmurs, his voice dropping, "you came along. I wanted to fucking kiss you right then and there when you called him out."

Your voice is strangled when you choke out, "oh."

His grip loosens in your hair. "That good enough for you or you going to keep complaining?"

You try to regain your composure, and you muster up, "I suppose that'll do."

Levi rolls his eyes, and his fingertips move down to the base of your skull. "Good. Get your seatbelt on and let's go."

He lets go, and you reach across your body to grab the buckle and fumble it into place. Levi puts his hand behind your seat and turns to look over his shoulder as he reverses, and this time, you stare at him shamelessly. The top buttons of his shirt are still undone. You can't wait to get him out of it.

The car ride is much too long. You can feel your underwear sticking to you uncomfortably- you're so painfully horny that you have to physically restrain yourself from sticking your hand down your tights. You've got to wait, you've got to keep a handle on yourself.

Levi pulls into the parking lot for your apartment building, and you throw yourself out of the car, adrenaline running through your veins. Levi follows you into the building as you thumb in your code to open the main door, then press the button for the elevator. The doors open and an elderly lady wanders out, smiling at you.

You and Levi step inside, and when the door's closed, you turn to face him. "You remember what floor I'm on?"

He glares at you. "Press the damn button, Red."

You roll your eyes and press the button for the eighth floor. The elevator starts to rise. You turn back to Levi, smirking. "You're eager," you tease.

"I'm eager?" Levi repeats lowly. He extends his hand, pressing his palm against your thigh. You freeze up like a statue as his hand rotates and his fingers press against the inside of your leg, under your dress. "Then what does that make you?" he whispers, letting his fingers rise.

"I'm not- _fuck,"_ you whisper, nearly whimpering as the pads of Levi's fingers press against your pussy.

"That's what I thought." Levi slowly drags his finger along the crotch of your tights, and you fight the urge to squeeze your legs shut around his hand. "You asked if I'd been waiting for this," he continues, his voice quiet, "but I think you're more excited for this than I am."

Your legs are quivering. His touch is too light, too little, not enough. "You- are you going to tease me all night, or are you going to fuck me?" you manage.

God, if he decided to fuck you right there on the floor of the elevator, you'd take it, hell, you'd _beg_ for it at this point, because everything is shaking and your brain is rotting with lust-

Levi's finger presses up against your cunt, and you can't hide your gasp. "We'll see."

The elevator dings and the doors slide open. Levi steps out first, his hand dropping from your legs, and you stagger forwards. He waits for you to slip by him and then follows you down the hallway to your room. The key feels heavy in your hand as you stab it into the lock, then twist the door open.

You shove the door open and stumble inside. As soon as you and Levi are both in your apartment, you knock the door shut with your foot and grab Levi's shoulders. You lean in and kiss him hungrily, trying to convey your cravings to him with your actions instead of your words.

Levi's mouth opens, and you slip your tongue into his mouth. He grabs your blazer and pushes it off your shoulders, and you shake your arms to help it fall off of you and to the ground. You knock your heels against the wall, kicking your feet out of your shoes.

You feel Levi smirk into your kiss. "Yeah, and I'm the eager one," he mutters against your lips.

You can feel your cheeks heating up. "Shut up," you mutter, kissing him harder.

Levi's hands circle your shoulders and slide down to your hips. You walk him backwards, intending on bringing you both to your bedroom, but Levi spins you around and pushes you into your couch. The backs of your knees hit the armrest and you fall backwards, hitting the soft cushions with a thump.

He's still standing above you, so you reach upwards and grab the collar of his shirt, then tug him down over top of you. Levi falls, his hands planting next to your head to keep from crashing down on top of you.

"Levi," you murmur, fingers gliding across what little is exposed of his chest.

His lips attach to your neck and Levi sucks at your skin- hard. Your eyes flutter shut. Yeah, you're definitely going to have to wear a turtleneck tomorrow. Levi's palm presses against your thigh, and he slides his hand up under your dress. The red dress rises, bundling up around your hips and exposing your lower half to him.

Levi detaches himself from your neck so that he can shift back and grab your tights, pulling them down. "These are annoying as fuck," he grumbles as he tugs them off your legs.

You grin sheepishly. "Sorry?"

Levi's long fingers latch onto your thong next, and he pulls it down. It gets discarded like your tights. You fight the urge to squirm when Levi eyes your dripping pussy, and he settles his palms back on your thighs to keep your legs open. "Well," Levi says coolly, gaze dragging up your form and your heaving chest to lock eyes with you. "Look at you."

His thumb presses on your clit and you have to do your best not to spasm. "Oh, fuck," you moan in sweet, sweet relief. You've been waiting for this for too long, much too long, and you feel that you're going to come undone much too quickly.

Slowly, Levi slides one finger into you, then two, and your body trembles in pleasure and obvious relief. Nights alone with your hand between your legs just doesn't cut it anymore, not when you've been dreaming of this for months.

"Such a liar, Red," Levi murmurs, dragging the pads of his fingertips against your walls. "Said you weren't looking forward to this. But you're soaked."

His fingers curl inside you and hit a spot that makes your legs go numb. You choke on whatever words you'd been about to say.

"So tense," he muses, and he kisses your neck as he starts shifting his fingers out and then back in, slow and purposeful. Each stroke is measured; each point of pressure is planned. It's almost like his fingers are flames and they're broiling your insides.

"Levi," you whisper, but then he bites down on your neck and you whimper.

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like he's planning on teasing you for long, because Levi starts working his fingers at a decent pace. He hits your sensitive spot every time, causing you to curse under your breath. His mouth is practically assaulting the top of your breasts, and you just want to tear the dress off of your body and let him have full access.

It's almost embarrassing how fast your orgasm builds up in you once he adds a third finger. You choke on air as he opens you up, his fingers tearing you apart from the inside.

Holy _shit,_ it feels like you're soaking his hand. You're dizzy with sensation, the three fingers almost too much for you to handle. It's not the thickness, it's the fucking pressure. Levi's hitting every spot, every pressure point, like he's mapped you out and knows exactly what to touch to get you to moan.

"Red," Levi breathes against your collarbone, and you whimper as his thumb presses down on your clit. He draws a torturously slow circle on your clit and you clamp down around him. "C'mon, Red."

You feel it, that burning sensation in the pit of your stomach, the signs that your climax is approaching, and you rake your nails down his back, hissing through your teeth. "Fuck," you choke as he twists his fingers inside of you. "Fuck, Levi, please, I'm- I'm going to-"

His mouth breaks off of your skin just so he can whisper, "so do it, then."

You do. White streaks blind your vision as blissful ecstasy seizes your body, rippling through it like waves. Your orgasm feels heavenly, after so much build up and so much tension. You moan as Levi's fingers work you through your climax, eventually slowing down in time with you as your body relaxes.

Your head falls back against the couch as you take deep gulps of air, trying to resupply the oxygen to your brain. Your legs had been locked around Levi; you let them relax, falling by his sides.

Levi pulls his fingers out, slick with your cum. "Towel?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Right," you say, and Levi shifts off of you so that you can get up. You try to stand on your shaky legs- holy _hell_ this should not be as difficult as it is- and you head towards your kitchen, fumbling with the paper towel. You toss it to him and he catches the roll with one hand.

You replay your orgasm in your head, letting your eyes flutter shut. You'd been dreaming of that, imagining it for weeks, and it was still better than you ever could've hoped for.

It's not enough, though.

You open your eyes, looking up to where Levi is by your couch. He's focused on the task at hand, cleaning all of your slick from his fingers. Well, he's always been concerned with cleanliness. You stride towards him, then once you've got his attention, step around him and head for your bedroom.

His eyes follow you until you're at your bedroom door. You turn back to him and raise an eyebrow. "Well, I'm not going to let you fuck me on my couch when I've got a perfectly good bed right here," you say.

Levi's lips twitch. He discards the paper towel and heads towards you, kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his shirt.

You grin and walk backwards into your room. Levi's shirt is opened and off by the time he's at your doorway, and he tosses it to the side as he closes your bedroom door. He pauses in front of you, and you press a hand to his chest. He's lean, but you can feel all of the tightly packed muscle under your fingertips.

"If you don't take that damn dress off," Levi threatens, reaching for his belt buckle, "I'm going to tear it off of you."

"Hate the dress that much?" you joke, undoing the zipper at the side of your dress.

Levi's eyes are drilling holes into your soul. "The opposite," he mutters, tossing his belt off and to the ground.

The smoldering intensity in his eyes makes your body feel like it's on fire. You undo the zipper and toss off the dress straps, letting it fall to the ground, leaving you in just your bra- you're pretty sure your thong is still somewhere out by the couch.

Hell, you're still so stupidly wet- you can feel it leaking down your thighs. Levi climbs up onto your bed, and you follow, undoing your bra as you go and tossing it off to the side. You're definitely going to have to wash your blankets after this.

Levi shifts his pants and boxers down, and you see how hard he is- curved and at attention. Apparently, he's not about to wait around either. With one quick motion, his socks, pants, and underwear are thrown off the bed. Levi climbs over top of you, lining himself up, one forearm pressed down on either side of your head.

You wrap your hands around his neck, quivering, more ready for this moment than you've ever been for anything in your life.

The head of his cock presses at your cunt. "Fuck, Red," Levi growls, his voice low.

He pushes in, and the feeling of his thickness breaking you open is fucking heavenly. Your nails dig into his back and you bite your lip, warding off the small spark of pain that appears solely because of how huge he is. Levi's first thrust is slow, letting you adjust after two months of absence. "I'm good, I'm good," you whisper, urging him to start moving.

Levi hisses through his teeth. "Still so fucking tight," he whispers.

His voice alone is making your lower abdomen throb. Slowly, Levi slides himself backwards, then pushes back in. He drops his forehead down to your shoulders and groans- it's clear he's enjoying himself as much as you are. You drags your fingers down his back, biting your lip to hide your moan.

Levi starts up a slow, steady rhythm, shifting his hips back and forth, the slick sound of his cock sliding back and forth inside you filling the room. You push your hips up against him, determined to help him get off. You don't just want to lie here- you want to be the reason he cums, not just because he's got a body underneath him.

Hell, if he gets turned on whenever you're assertive...

You use your arms around his neck for leverage and pull your head up from the pillows so that you can whisper in his ear, "flip over."

Levi's thrusts falter. "Wh- what?" he stammers.

You've caught him off guard, for the first time since you've met him. You gently shove him sideways, and Levi slides out of you and falls to his side. The loss of friction nearly makes you whine and you scamper to climb on top of him, eager to get underway again.

Levi's eyes are wild, darting from your face to your exposed chest and then to your dripping pussy. You settle one hand on his chest, breathing hard, and tighten your knees on his sides, straddling him as best as you can. You reach down with your other hand, grabbing onto his cock, and he groans.

"Well?" Levi hisses through his teeth, his hands finding place on your hips.

You smirk slightly, line him up with your entrance, and sink your hips all the way down.

You and Levi both moan in unison. His cock hits you at a different angle than when he was on top and it sends stars across your vision. Levi's grip on your hips is painfully tight, but you don't call him out for it because you feel way too fucking good. You're filled, you're whole, and Levi looks like he's going to combust below you.

For a second, neither of you move. You adjust your hips, shifting your knees so you're in a more comfortable position. Levi's palms slide up from your hips so that he can cups your tits, one in each palm. You place your hands over top of his, holding him there. The only sound in the room is your and Levi's heavy breathing.

"Fuck," you choke out, laughing weakly.

To your surprise, Levi lets out a chuckle, and he squeezes your chest. "C'mon, Red," he says, his voice strained. You roll your hips forward and he grunts. "Y- Yeah, just like- just like that."

Slowly, you rock your hips back and forth. You slide your hands down Levi's forearms and biceps until you're at his shoulders, scraping your nails against his skin as you pick up the pace. You clench down around him, riding him in earnest, determined to make him feel the same euphoria that you experienced from his fingers alone.

He's cursing underneath you, whispering things under his breath that you can't hear, but you don't know if you could focus on it even if you wanted to. Being on top takes a lot of energy, but it's worth it: the look on his face, the tension in his muscles, the new angles and spots that you're hitting that make you feel like a virgin all over again.

Levi's hands don't last long on your tits, and he drags his palms down your sides until he's holding onto your waist with bruising pressure. "Shit," he curses, thumbs digging into the skin above your hip bones, "shit- you're too- too fucking-"

Whatever he'd been saying is lost when he groans, loud and unashamed. He rocks his hips up into yours as you come downwards, and it hits a deep spot inside you that makes you cry out.

"Oh, fuck," you breathe, and Levi pushes his hips up again. His strong thrusts feel like they're catapulting you forward, and you press your palms into his shoulders to keep yourself upright. "Sh- shit," you choke, squeezing your eyes shut.

You can feel it. You can feel another orgasm building up in your core, threatening to swallow you whole. Levi angles his hips slightly and thrusts up again, hitting a deeper spot inside you- _fuck_ you didn't think that was possible- and drawing your next orgasm out at a blinding speed.

"Le-" you can't even get out his name. "I- I might- _shit-"_

"Shit," he groans, his voice low and pained, "I- _Red-"_

Levi's body tenses, and his thrusts falter. You feel a wave of heat inside you as Levi cums, head thrown back against the pillows, his teeth sunk deep into his lip. For a moment, you're worried your orgasm is going to escape you, but Levi shoves up hard with what seems to be the last of his energy.

Another wave of pure bliss tears your insides apart, swamping your brain with hot pleasure. Your second orgasm is just as strong as the first, pulsing through the depths of your core. Your arms give out and you collapse against his chest, completely exhausted.

You both remain there for a minute, breathing heavily. All of your energy is spent, and from the sounds of it, so is his. Levi's knees drop flat against the bed and he sighs, long and quiet. His cock is still inside you, limp and spent, but you know that the second you pull out, you're going to make a mess all over Levi and your blankets.

Eventually, Levi's grip lightens up on your hips, and his hands drop to your sides. "You getting up?" he asks.

"Yeah- yeah," you say, and you carefully shift yourself upwards, letting his cock fall out of you, then fall onto the bed beside him. You reach a hand over to your nightstand and grab your box of tissues with shaky hands. "Here," you say, passing it to him.

Levi takes it from you and starts cleaning himself up. You take some too and start dabbing at your thighs.

Did that really just happen? You still can't entirely believe it. That was even better than the first time you'd fucked: the first time had been sort of hurried and completely driven by lust, while this time was anchored by months of pining and desire.

You smile to yourself, grinning like an idiot up to your ceiling.

It strikes you that you're completely naked, and now that the sex is over, you feel a bit over exposed. Levi rolls off of the bed and you grab the top blanket, gathering it towards you to cover your chest. Levi walks around the bed towards where he discarded his boxers and pants, and he starts to pull his clothing back on.

You frown. You'd get up, but you don't trust your legs to work right away. "You don't have to leave," you say.

Levi straightens up, pants pulled up to his hips. "What?" he asks with a frown.

There's a moment of silence in which you realize that perhaps you and Levi are reading this situation differently.

"This is just sex," Levi says bluntly, and something seizes in your chest. "That's it."

The euphoria you'd felt being with Levi seems to evaporate into nothing. It's true that everything has been physical, but were you really naïve for hoping that maybe it was something more? All those kisses in the elevators, the intimate moments you've shared with him- yes, it was all physical, but you'd partially hoped there'd been something more.

 _Okay. That's fine._ If sex was all he wanted, then you would have to settle for that. You try to squash the stupid feelings in your chest.

"R- right," you agree, nodding and pulling the blanket closer towards you.

Levi nods, then bends down to grab his belt. "You're gone in two months anyways," he says as he threads the leather through the buckle.

You want to argue that you could find a job near here, you could do long distance- but it's becoming increasingly apparent that despite your hopes, Levi just wanted you for the sex. That's it. "Right," you repeat, nodding again. "Yeah, doesn't make much sense anyways."

He grabs his shirt from the floor and pulls it on. You get one last look at his back muscles before they're covered by the material. Your head feels like it's being squashed.

Then, Levi opens your door and leaves.

You listen for his footsteps, trying to process what just happened. You'd been fucked senseless, feeling better than you had in a long time, and now you're trying to ward off the disappointment that's trying to consume your brain.

The footsteps move back towards you and you straighten up. Levi pokes his head in and tosses you something; it lands next to you on the bed.

You pick it up. It's his phone. His personal phone, not his work phone.

"Put your number in that," Levi says, leaning against the door frame. "Can't be making calls for this to my work phone."

The way he says it indicates further hook ups. Alright. You can roll with that. You'd be stupid to turn down more sex. You take his phone, and it's already open to a new contact page. You thumb in your name and number and save it, then toss it back to him.

Levi catches it with one hand. "See you tomorrow," he says gruffly, and then he's gone from your sight.

You listen as the footsteps recede. A pause, probably to get his shoes and coat on. Shuffling. Then a door opens, and then you hear it close. Then there's nothing but silence.

"See you tomorrow," you whisper to your wall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Readers when Levi and the reader [finally fuck:](https://imgur.com/a/CE7k68H)  
> Readers when Levi says it's [just sex:](https://imgur.com/a/a9TRHma)
> 
> Levi's behavior will be explained a bit more in the next chapter ;) c'mon, it'd be boring if everything was all fine and dandy now, right? ...right?!
> 
> In the meantime, thank you all so much for over 500 kudos- I know I thank y'all a lot but I'm truly blown away and so humbled that so many people enjoy my writing. I hope I can continue to meet your expectations in future updates. Thank you so much.
> 
> Much love <3


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